WUNRN
The UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Statement on Forced Evictions - presented at the World Urban Forum 2006, is Attached.
From the World Urban Forum 2006 Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Miloon Kothari, about Forced Evictions & Displacements:
"Women suffer particularly as a result of forced evictions and as a consequence not just from loss of home, but also livelihoods, relationships and support systems they were used to, breakdown of kinship ties, physical and psychological trauma and even increased morbidity and mortality. Of serious consequence is also the fact that evictions increase the vulnerability of women to further acts of violence."
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UN: Forced Evictions Occurring at Alarming Level | |
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By Lisa
Schlein |
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A special United Nations investigator on adequate housing says forced evictions around the world have reached alarming levels. He says countless millions of people are being forced out of their homes in both democratic and authoritarian countries.
Special U.N. investigator, Miloon Kothari, says many so-called development-based evictions are done under the pretext of serving the public good. They are linked to urban renewal, slum upgrading, housing renovation, city beautification or other land-use programs. He says in most cases, they violate human rights standards.
For
example, Kothari notes, it is one year since the authorities in
He says the majority of people who were evicted are still homeless, in resettlement camps or living in inadequate housing condition, without food, potable water or sanitation.
What
is most shocking about this situation, he says is that the humanitarian
community seems to have forgotten
"We have information that another round of evictions is imminent because many of the people out of sheer desperation have gone back to the places from which they were displaced and put up temporary shacks, tin shacks," he said. "And now the information is that the Mugabe government is going to embark on another round of evictions which, as last year, are often accompanied by force."
Kothari
says a wave of evictions displacing hundreds of thousands of people is occurring
worldwide. He says he has received disturbing reports from countries such
as
In all such evictions, he says people are not told ahead of time that their homes will be demolished. He says they are not consulted about the plans and alternative solutions are not sought.
"The
other common feature is that there is increasing police brutality and violence,"
he added. "In some of the case I referred to, homes have been demolished
when people were still inside. Women have been beaten up, children have
been very badly injured and there is complete impunity. For all of
these actions, there is no investigation from governments and I am talking about
even democratic countries like in
Kothari says discrimination seems to play a critical role in forced eviction cases. He says women, ethnic, religious, racial and other minorities as well as indigenous people are far more likely than others to be evicted.
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