Homeless and Slum Dwellers Disadvantaged Group Homeless and Slum Dwellers

Right to housing Right to housing means the right to live in adequate shelter in security, peace, and dignity. It doesn’t stand for merely having a roof over one’s head. It requires: An accessible liveable space Personal space and security Adequate lighting and ventilation Safe infrastructure and protection from weather Adequate location with regard to work and basic facilities At a reasonable cost

Features of adequate shelter Affordable Privacy Space Heating & Ventilation Security & Stability Water, Lighting, Sanitation Accessible Location Infrastructure

Meaning of Homeless An individual who lacks a fixed, regular and adequate night time residence is known as homeless or an individual who has a primary night time residence that is: Public or private shelter designed to provide temporary accommodation (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters and transitional housing for the mentally ill). An institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized. A public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

Factors responsible for homelessness Poverty Drug addiction War Unemployment Divorce Natural disaster

Meaning of Slum Dweller According to UN-HABITAT (a United Nations Agency) a slum is a run-down area of a city characterised by substandard housing and squalor (unpleasant) and lacking in tenure (possession) security. Main features of a Slum area are as under: High rate of poverty High incidence of unemployment Huge extent of urban decay Breeding grounds for social problems like crime, drug addiction, alcoholism etc. High rates of mental illness and suicide etc. Low level of economic status of its residents Inadequate infrastructural facilities Acute problem of malnutrition Lack of drinking water Lack of basic healthcare Unsanitary environment Low standard of living or poor quality of life

Deprivation of Rights of Homeless and Slum Dwellers Forcible Evictions: Right to freedom of movement: When forced eviction occurs, the rights to freedom of movement and choose one’s residence are breached. Right to security: When people are forcibly evicted with violence and threats, the right to security of person is violated. Right to education: When children are unable to attend school due to a forced eviction the right to education is violated. Right to employment: When people become deprived of their source of employment due to forcible eviction, the right to employment is infringed. Right to healthy environment: When psychological and physical health of individual is damaged by constant threat of eviction, issue of violation of right to health is raised. Right to privacy: When eviction squad forcefully enters one’s home, the rights to privacy and security of home are violated.

Deprivation of Rights of Homeless and Slum Dwellers Development Schemes: Urban renewal schemes, city ‘beautification’ projects, real estate development and sporting events lead to displacement of various people and also generation of homelessness. E.g. In Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010 around 2,00,000 people were displaced. These developmental projects are carried out without considering the due process for displacement or any rehabilitation program for displaced people. In the some cases where rehabilitation is provided, the sites are located very far from people’s original places of residence, work, education and healthcare. Also the affected people are not consulted before implementing any plan of action. Even the quality of housing and services provided during rehabilitation is below standard and thus violates human rights.

Deprivation of Rights of Homeless and Slum Dwellers Displacement due to Infrastructure Projects: Large infrastructure projects, like dams, ports, mining, environmental conservation projects and development of tax-free Special Economic Zones (SEZs), have been responsible for the displacement of millions of rural families, most of whom have not received rehabilitation. For such projects, government is involved in forced acquisition of agricultural land. This is further increasing landlessness, reducing cultivation land and thus threatening food security. Small farmer are highly affected by such acquisitions because they become landless and job-less and get very less in return. They have no other source of income and so they become poorer. Sometimes even they become homeless. According to an estimate 13 to 18 million families in rural India are reported to be landless, of which about 8 million lack homes of their own.

Deprivation of Rights of Homeless and Slum Dwellers Discrimination: Homeless and slum dwellers are not treated well in the society. They are given lowest status in comparison to others. They are not treated well by others and are discriminated everywhere. They are thought to be criminals, thieves, dishonest, beggars etc. by other classes of society. This violates their right to life with dignity.

Deprivation of Rights of Homeless and Slum Dwellers Privatization:  Privatization of basic services along with the inability of governments to provide their citizens with affordable access to basic amenities like water and housing etc., tend to disproportionately impact the poorest and most vulnerable sections of society. This is continuously deteriorating the living conditions of majority of the urban and rural poor around the world. Land Grabbing and Land Speculation:  Elevated property values and processes of gentrification push low- income families into increasingly insecure situations including homelessness. Gentrification is the process of renewing or rebuilding in deteriorating areas by affluent people which results into displacement of poor people. Also the increased competition among cities to attract business has led to increase in inequalities between cities along with discrepancies in quality of basic services provided to citizens.  

Deprivation of Rights of Homeless and Slum Dwellers Lack of adequate Rural Development: The lack of adequate investment in rural development, housing and livelihoods, force people to migrate to bigger cities for survival on a larger scale. In large cities, lack of affordable housing or rental alternatives or investment in social housing leads to unsafe or inadequate housing conditions, often with little or no access to basic amenities such as water and sanitation. Violation of Rights of Disaster Survivors: Lots of people become homeless because of Natural Disasters like earthquake, flood, tsunami etc. The rights of survivors to adequate housing have been violated in most places in India. The temporary and intermediate housing shelters for survivors are built with poor and inadequate materials, and without consideration for space, location, size, sanitation, security and cultural safeguard. These are built to merely meet an emergency need and cause further deprivation of rights. This reflects that for government housing for the poor/ displaced means “slums.” Other than housing various other services like food, water and sanitation for the affected people in intermediate shelters are also inadequately supplied. Most people lose of their livelihoods. Nutritional intake also suffered in the post-disaster scenario. The survivors are made deprived of their right to relief and rehabilitation after natural disaster.