The manner in which the operation is being carried out also ignores the state’s duty to provide shelter to citizens. PHOTO: NNI
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called upon authorities engaged in the land recovery drive in Sector I-11 to act in a responsible manner and pay attention to the housing needs of evictees.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the commission said, “HRCP does not justify encroachment and understands the need for action to recover illegally occupied land,” adding, “however, authorities engaged in the action must consider where the uprooted people will go.”
The HRCP statement, while pointing at reasons of hardship that has forced people to live in the slums, reads “surely, the authorities can understand that the slums being cleared today do not offer ideal lodging and given a choice most of the people would not have settled there.”
The statement goes on to stress that “with respect, the point that the authorities are missing is that eviction from the slums will not make these people disappear. They will simply have to look for a home elsewhere.”
The HRCP statement, in its criticism, says, “The manner in which the operation is being carried out also ignores the state’s duty to provide shelter to citizens.”
“We hope the government will simultaneously consider ways to resettle the evicted families, providing them with viable, alternative lodgings. Such an action…would be considered a civilised and considerate action by a government awake to its obligations,” the statement urges.
The HRCP also emphasises the importance of due process for the dozens of people arrested.
On the issue of presence of “criminals” in the slum, the statement stresses, “If the action in I-11 was considered necessary because of supposed presence of criminal elements in the slums, merely dispersing the ‘criminals’ does not make much sense.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 3rd, 2015.
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