UN Experts Urge The Bahamas To Halt Plans To Demolish 600 Homes – Scoop.co.nz

Saturday, 8 May 2021, 4:48 pmPress Release: UN Special Procedures - Human Rights

GENEVA (7 May 2021) UN human rights experts* todaycalled on the Bahamas to halt planned demolitions this weekof approximately 600 homes at two informal settlements knownas the Farm and the Farm Road on Abaco island.

Acommunity of Haitian descendants and migrants numbering upto 2,000 people, including many women and children, are atserious risk of becoming homeless as a result of theclearance expected to take place on 7 May.

Theplanned forced evictions and demolitions constitute aserious violation of the human right to adequate housing andwill result in arbitrary internal displacement, theexperts said. To make things worse, this is scheduled tooccur during the COVID-19 pandemic, threatening to expose analready vulnerable minority to all kinds of risks for theirhealth and safety.

Most of these people havenowhere else to go. If their homes are destroyed, they areat serious risk of falling into homelessness and extremepoverty. While it is important to move away from informalsettlements lacking in safety and infrastructure, vulnerableminorities should not be left behind in the Governmentsefforts to rebuild more resilient communities.

Inearly September 2019, Hurricane Dorian ravaged several partsof the Bahamas islands, completely destroying severalinformal settlements on Abaco, where many Haitian migrantsand Bahamians of Haitian origin used to live. After severalmonths of living in evacuation shelters, many of thesurvivors had to completely rebuild their homes it isthese that the authorities intend to destroy.

Inaddition to the risk of becoming homeless, some migrantsamong the residents of the two informal settlements fearthat they may be detained and deported, the UN expertssaid.

In recent years, there have been reports ofundocumented migrants experiencing ill-treatment indetention, before being deported. Families have also beenseparated as a result.

We urge the Government ofthe Bahamas to immediately cease further evictions andhousing demolitions. Furthermore we call on the Governmentto review its migration policy, which includes thewidespread use of detention and expulsion of migrants,the experts said.

The Supreme Court of the Bahamas hasalready granted court orders to halt evictions in informalsettlements on the Bahamas main island NewProvidence.

We urge the Bahamas to follow due legalprocess and respect existing judicial orders. This includesnot only waiting for the outcome of the Supreme Court fullreview of the Governments policy to demolish informalsettlements, but also to ensure full adherence tointernational human rights standards governing relocations,evictions, and internal displacement.

People livingin informal settlements need to be consulted, receivesecurity of tenure, and either be allowed to remain wherethey currently live - or if they need to be relocated forsafety reasons - be properly rehoused and provided withaccess to water, sanitation, electricity and access to otheressential public services.

The UN human rightsexperts urged the Government of the Bahamas, which currentlyholds the Vice Presidency at the Human Rights Council, toensure that its internal policies are implemented in fullcompliance with international human rightsstandards.

ENDS

* Theexperts: Mr. BalakrishnanRajagopal, SpecialRapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the rightto an adequate standard of living, and on the right tonon-discrimination in this context. Mr.Michael Fakhri, SpecialRapporteur on the right to food.Ms. Tlaleng Mofokeng,SpecialRapporteur on the right to physical and mentalhealth. Mr. Felipe GonzlezMorales, SpecialRapporteur on the human rights of migrants.Ms. CeciliaJimenez-Damary,SpecialRapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally DisplacedPersons. Mr. Fernand deVarennes, SpecialRapporteur on minority issues.Mr. Nils Melzer, SpecialRapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or DegradingTreatment orPunishment.

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UN Experts Urge The Bahamas To Halt Plans To Demolish 600 Homes - Scoop.co.nz