Vancouver, 20 June
2006
The Special
Rapporteur will be speaking at the Dialogue on "Achieving the
MDGs: Slum-upgrading and Affordable Housing" on 20 June
2006.
The World Urban Forum
III gives us the opportunity to reflect on the challenges
facing the world community as it grapples with the global
housing and living conditions crisis. These challenges also
need to be tackled in the context of realization of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which should serve to
focus worldwide efforts in overcoming the critical
deficiencies in global development, and should be fully based
on human rights principles and commitments. The attempt to
improve living conditions for some, for example through
slum-upgrading projects, must not lead to the violation of
human rights of others, such as through forced evictions.
Thus, the process followed to achieve the MDGs is as important
as the agreed targets and as Special Rapporteur on adequate
housing I urge that the principles of non-discrimination,
progressive realization, and indivisibility of human rights
frame efforts to achieve the MDGs.
Forced evictions are
acts and/or omissions involving the coerced or involuntary
displacement of individuals, groups and communities from homes
and/or lands and common property resources that were occupied
or depended upon, thus eliminating or limiting the ability of
an individual, group or community to reside or work in a
particular dwelling, residence or location, without the
provision of, and access to, appropriate forms of legal or
other protection. Evictions must be carried out lawfully, only
in exceptional circumstances, and in full accordance with
relevant provisions of international human rights and
humanitarian law.
Since my appointment
as Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, I have witnessed
and increasingly received reports on forced evictions and
displacement around the world. Many contemporary cases of
forced evictions constitute a gross violation of human rights
and indicate a systematic disregard of recognized human rights
standards on the part of States. Forced evictions and
displacement occur due to different reason. They are taking
place in countries world wide, ranging from democratic to
authoritarian states. Many are so-called development-based
evictions, which include evictions often planned or conducted
with the justification or under the pretext of serving the
"public good," such as those linked to slum-clearance drives,
large-scale infrastructure or other development projects, and
land-acquisition measures associated with urban renewal,
housing renovation, city beautification, or other land-use
programmes. Evictions are also on the raise due to the
reluctance of States to control speculation in housing and
property.
Figures show that
there are millions of people displaced and forced into
homelessness and inadequate housing living conditions every
year due to development projects – a number exceeding even
that of those displaced due to armed and ethnic conflict. And
yet, forced evictions, a prima facie violation of a range of
recognized human rights, continue to take place with impunity
and rare, if any, reaction by the international
community.
Above all, the impact
on those affected can often be characterized as a human
tragedy. In the wake of forced evictions, people are often
left homeless and destitute, without means of earning a
livelihood and, in practice, with no effective access to legal
or other remedies. As a general rule, forced evictions affect
the poorest, the socially and economically most vulnerable and
marginalized sectors of society and intensify inequality and
social conflict, contributing to segregation and the creation
of 'apartheid cities'.
The examples
illustrating the scale and global reach of this perhaps the
most devastating violation of the right to adequate housing
are numerous.
It is now one year
after the launch of Operation Murambatsvina (Restore Order),
initiated by the Government of Zimbabwe to
"rid the capital of illegal structures, businesses and
criminal activities". An estimated 700,000 people lost their
homes, their livelihoods, or both, according to UN sources.
The majority of the people having been evicted are still
homeless, in resettlement camps or living in inadequate
housing conditions, without food, potable water or sanitation.
Others have taken refuge in caves outside Harare.
Disturbingly, the Government has not implemented the
recommendations made by the UN Special Envoy in her
Zimbabwe mission
report, including the call to immediately halt any further
demolitions and to pay compensation for property that was
unlawfully destroyed. Operation Garikai (Better Life) has not
met the needs of those affected by Operation Murambatsvina. I
am extremely concerned that one year after the operation the
situation has not improved. On the contrary, human suffering
and violations of the right to adequate housing, including
forced evictions, continue to occur.
I have recently drawn
attention to a new wave of forced evictions in connection with
the construction of the Lyari Expressway in Karachi,
Pakistan,
leading to the destruction of thousands of houses since the
beginning of this year. The affected families, already amongst
the poorest of the poor, have allegedly been left to fend for
themselves on the streets without basic shelter. In cases were
relocation has been offered, the relocation sites are
reportedly located far away from livelihood opportunities and
are lacking in civic services. The evictions have allegedly
been accompanied by the excessive use of force by the police
and local authorities, and reports of related death and injury
have been received. When completed, the project allegedly will
have rendered an estimated over 250,000 people homeless, and
25,000 people have been evicted between January and May 2006
alone.
Since November 2004
an estimated 400,000 slum dwellers have been displaced from
their homes in the city of Mumbai, India. In
May 2004 governmental promises were made to regularize slums
built in Mumbai, India before the
year 2000. Notwithstanding, in November the same year, the
Mumbai government initiated a massive housing demolition drive
lasting for several months resulting in an estimated 92,000
homes being razed to the ground throughout the city. Moreover,
the Mumbai government has embarked on a new urban renewal
initiative known as "Operation Makeover", to free up public
spaces for infrastructure projects including commercial and
entertainment centres. As a result, Mumbai has witnessed an
intensification of demolitions, accompanied by the use of
force against residents, and without provision of any
rehabilitation or alternative housing to any of the evicted.
In early May 2006, 5,000 houses in the slum communities of
Indira Nagar and Janata Nagar in Mandala, near Mankurd in
Mumbai were demolished and the rest set on fire, in the
presence of members of the police force and municipal official
representatives, with no or inadequate prior eviction
notice.
Until recently
Bassac Village, an informal
settlement on the banks of the Bassac River in central Phnom Penh,
Cambodia,
was home to an estimated two thousand families, living in
extreme poverty. Demolitions, forced evictions and relocations
with the aid of security forces were initiated in the
beginning of May 2006, culminating in early June. Information
received points to a humanitarian emergency. The two
designated relocation sites are situated over 20 kilometers
from the city, far from livelihood opportunities. Allegedly,
the relocation areas are also prone to flooding and lack basic
services such as water, education facilities and health
services. In one of the relocation sites in Andaung (Dangkor
District), over one thousand families are currently occupying
a total of one hectare of land provided by the Municipality.
According to
information received, evictions and demolitions in Abuja
communities and other settlements in the Federal Capital
Territory of Nigeria have taken place since 2003/2004.
With the most recent wave of evictions the total number of
dispossessed and homeless people has allegedly reached an
estimated 800,000 persons. These evictions are justified as
being part of the belated implementation of the 1979 Abuja
Master Plan, which includes planned measures for the
"beautification" of the Federal Capital City. In implementing
the Master Plan, the present government has allegedly
nullified allocation documents and title deeds issued by the
former authorities. It is further alleged the main actual
causes for the forced evictions and demolition of property are
real estate investment interests and privatization, and that
private real estate developers have assumed the key role in
rebuilding on the demolished sites. Evictions allegedly began
on a mass scale in 2003. The evictions, so far, have
reportedly destroyed nine communities, including both formal
and informal settlements. A total of 49 settlement areas are
reportedly earmarked for demolition. The nine communities
allegedly affected to date are: Wuse and Mpape demolished in
2004, Dantata and Old Karimo in November 2004, Jabi/Kado in
April 2004, Chika in November 2005, Idu Karimo between 2005
and 2006, Kubwa between June 2005 and April 2006, and Dei-dei
in April 2006. It is also reported that the Chika (Extension)
Community has been totally destroyed, including social
services, schools and churches.
In
Mexico, the planned
construction of a hydroelectric dam as part of the Central
American Electrical Interconnection System (SIEPAC), risks to
cause the flooding of several communities in the
municipalities of Acapulco,
San
Marcos and Juan R. Escudero,
Chilpancingo and Tecuanapan. According to some sources up to
25,000 people, most of them poor farmers and peasants, will be
affected by the project which allegedly would result in the
destruction of houses, schools and health centers. Information
received indicated that the building of the "La Parota" dam
would entail the flooding of an area in the range of 14,000 to
17,000 hectares of land, affecting towns and villages by a
drastic transformation of the existing environment and the
deprivation of traditional livelihood. Reportedly feasible
options to eviction and displacement have not been explored in
consultation with the affected persons and groups.
The list of
situations where violations of human rights, often those of
the poorest of the poor, take place in the name of
'development' in one form or another can be continued. The
North Rail and South Rail project in the Philippines
will, when completed, have evicted and displaced an estimated
150,000 families, with inadequate relocation alternatives.
Testimonies from United States of
America have been
received regarding the eviction from and demolition of older
public housing, without adequate replacement housing
alternatives. In Canada,
thousands of households continue to be evicted, due to high
rents and inadequate income support, without proper hearings
and with no consideration of whether these evictions will
result in homelessness. Slum-clearance programmes in cities
like Casablanca in
Morocco,
including initiatives supported by international financial
institutions such as the 'Cities without Slums' initiative,
are reportedly not including the necessary human rights
safeguards. In the Russian
Federation, allegations
are continuously received regarding the forced evictions of
Roma communities, including as part of local political
electoral campaigns. Forced evictions in Iran
continue to displace thousands of persons of ethnic and
religious minorities, including Arabs, Kurds, Nomads and the
Baha'i.
Most of these
'development-based' evictions have one or several common
features that contravene recognized human rights standards.
Lack of prior notice, inadequate or no consultation, absence
of information-sharing, no possibility of participation in the
decision-making process for those affected, lack of housing
alternatives and the use of excessive force to carry out
evictions are disturbing trends. Without human rights
safeguards, the commitment to the reduction of slums,
including through the relevant MDGs can easily become
slum-eradication to the detriment of
slum-dwellers.
Wherever they take
place, discrimination seems to play a critical role in forced
eviction cases. Ethnic, religious, racial and other minorities
as well as indigenous people are far more likely than others
to be evicted. 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.
Given the alarming
increase of forced evictions, I particularly call
for: · States, consistent
with their human rights obligations, to take steps to minimize
evictions and displacement by: undertaking human rights impact
assessment studies; search for alternative development
strategies and adopt comprehensive housing policies and
legislations on forced evictions based on human rights
standards. A inclusive approach needs to be adopted to address
the issues of forced evictions, security of tenure,
legalization of informal settlements and slum-upgrading, and
to ensure close consultation with those affected at the
planning stage and with respect for the right to participation
in decision-making in these areas. · an immediate halt
of all forced evictions and for concerned authorities to carry
out open and genuine consultations with affected persons and
to ensure that evictions do not result in
homelessness; · urgent attention
and comprehensive action from the global community, including
UN programmes and agencies, international financial
institutions, bilateral agencies and donors; · support to the
thousands of human rights defenders across the world that are
peacefully opposing forced evictions.
States should
remember that, under international human rights law, evictions
should only be carried out under exceptional circumstances,
following a well defined procedure. In this respect, I wish to
draw attention to the Basic Principles and Guidelines on
Development-based Evictions and Displacement which I have
recently elaborated to assist States in developing policies
and legislations to prevent forced evictions at the domestic
level.
We are witnesses to
large-scale evictions around the world today. We are also
witnessing a deepening of the global housing and living
conditions crisis as detailed in the UN-Habitat
State of
the World Cities Report 2005-2006. Such a reality makes a
mockery of agreed MDG's and other internationally agreed
targets, goals and commitments, including those detailed in
the Habitat Agenda. I call on all actors at the World Urban
Forum to unequivocally uphold the human right to adequate
housing and oppose forced evictions as a means of achieving
'development'. I urge UN-Habitat, OHCHR, the newly formed UN
Human Rights Council and other international bodies to play a
larger role in holding States accountable to their human
rights commitments, including halting the practice of forced
evictions. I urge the world's governments to abide by their
international human rights commitments to uphold the human
right to adequate housing especially for the millions of
women, men and children that continue to be forced to live in
inadequate and insecure housing and living conditions.
*****
The Special
Rapporteur's latest report, including the "Basic principles
and guidelines on development-based evictions and
displacement" (E/CN.4/2006/41), can be found
at:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/housing/annual.htm
For more information
on the mandate and work of the Special Rapporteur, including
recent public statements on forced evictions, please consult
the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights at http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/housing/index.htm |