Some Trends

in Eviction in Asia

Summary of Evictions from January 2004 – June 2005 in selected Asian countries

Comparing figures from the first half of 2004 and 2005 we see that the number of evictions that we have documented is significantly higher. It is about six times higher. Whilst our monitoring has improved, many groups and people continue to report evictions. There is no doubt that there is an increase in evictions.

                                                                            Jan To June 2004             Jan to June 2005           

Total No People Evicted                                      approx. 334, 593            approx. 2,084,388
Total No People Under Threat of Eviction         Approx. 404 624            approx. 778,819

China and India have the highest number of people being evicted.  Given the population size it is not surprising. However, in both countries evictions are becoming ugly. In India, I visited several cities
where evictions had occurred and it was brutal. In Mumbai, between November 2004 and January 2005 an estimated 250,000 people were evicted. All the communities I visited that were evicted did not receive
any notice. Some had lived on that land for well over thirty years.

In China the use of thugs and private landlords are being used to evict people. However, there is resistance. In India after many demonstrations, a people's tribunal and an international letter writing campaign the government did back down and the approximately 2.5  million people who were earmarked for evictions got a bit of respite. They continue to live in uncertainity.
In Maxinghuang Village, Beijing, hundreds of farmers protested against their eviction to make way for the Olympics.

The major reason for evicting people is the beautification and development of the city. In most cases people did not get any compensation for the losses they incurred. Nor did they get any place to resettle.  China does have a policy to resettle those whose houses the government demolishes. The resettlement site can be as far from the city as 25 to 60 kms.

These disturbing trends of human rights violation of so many people is not going to subside in the foreseeable future. The two countries violating people's housing rights viz China and India, are also the fastest growing economies. There is a co-relation between investments and forced evictions. We saw in the nineties in many cities such as Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Jakarta, etc thousands were evicted regularly as these countries' economies boomed. There was a lot investment in property development and infrastructure. After the 1997 economic crisis, evictions slowed down significantly and in some countries stopped completely.

Economies are now picking up and there is a push for making cities efficient and beautiful to attract more investments. Big infrastructure projects such as widening of roads, expressways, railways, highways,
etc are being foisted on to cities, without discussion and participation of citizens. These very projects are causing forced evictions. Given the size of the cost (both social and economic) of these projects there are serious questions whether they actually provide long term solutions to the problems that these very projects are supposed to address.

Another trend that I am observing is the increase in the number of middle class in cities. While income of this group is going up, their quality of life is going down as they spend more time commuting and pollution levels are increasing. Any projects that seems to solve a problem, looks grand, costs a lot and gives the illusion that the city will be transformed instantly into a first world city, is often supported by the middle class. Often the urban poor are sacrificed on this altar of so- called progress.

One thing is clear that people need to be organized to resist forced evictions. Where it doesn't happen it needs to be facilitated, where it does happen it needs to supported. There is a need for a concerted campaign to stop forced evictions. In Jakarta the Urban Poor Consortium has launched a campaign for a moratorium on forced evictions. What shape should this take and how can it be localized and internationalized?

Prepared by Ken Fernandes
For ACHR meeting Bangkok 11-12th March 2006