Summary
From January to May 2006, the City District Government of
Karachi bulldozed over 3,490 houses in various parts of
the city to make way for the Lyari Expressway. Since
January 2002, the project has displaced 77,000 families
(roughly 200,000 people), caused hundreds of deaths and
injuries of innocent citizens, and deprived around
100,000 children of education. Among the settlements
demolished from January to May 2006, 40 percent were
legal ones, while 60 percent were informal ones.
Families evicted by the project were not consulted or
given prior notice. Revenue Department officials
bulldozed properties without providing time to remove
valuables and household items.
Nor were these affected citizens provided with reasonable
compensation and respectable resettlement. So far only
8,000 affected families have been allotted land in
Hawkesby, which is 25 km away from Karachi. More than
50,000 families are still homeless. The alternate sites
offered by the government have no water, roads, sewage
drains, electricity, social facilities or job
opportunities.
According to local newspapers, the Karachi city
government is planning to demolish another 6000 housing
units in 20 different Katchi Abadis (informal
settlements) in Karachi by the end of this year for the
project. According to City Nazim (Mayor) Mr. Syed Mustafa
Kamal "each and every informal settlements that
sprang up after 1985 are being considered as an
encroachment and illegal and they would be removed any
time".
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Action Requested
Please write polite letters expressing your
concern on the situation and request the authorities to:
provide reasonable compensation and respectable
resettlement - including potable water supply, medical
services, educational facilities, roads,
tele-communication facilities, security of life, sewage
lines, electricity and job opportunities - to the people
affected by the Lyari Expressway.
| Send
letters to: |
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H.
E. Pervaiz Musharaf
President of Pakistan
President House
Islamabad, Pakistan |
Fax:
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+92-51-9203297 |
| Send
copies to: |
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Honorable Syed Mustafa Kamal
City Mayor (Nazim)
Karachi City District Government
Karachi, Pakistan |
Fax: |
+92-21-9232406 |
Honorable Fawzi Yousef Al-Hunaif
Director of Operations
Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development |
Fax: |
+965-2999190
+965-2999091 |
| Diplomatic representative of Pakistan in your
country. |
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Sample
Letter
We write to voice our deepest concern
about the vast demolition and forced evictions in
Karachi for the construction of the Lyari
Expressway.
Since 2002, affected people have not been
allotted proper resettlement and compensation.
According to local sources, only 8,000 families
were relocated to Hawkesby, which lack basic
amenities that uphold adequate standards of
living. Another 50,000 families remain homeless.
We understand the struggle your government has
been going through since the historical
earthquake in 2005. However, as a responsible
government, we believe you have a sturdier
obligation to prevent disaster caused, not by
nature, but by humans.
As a member of the United Nations, your
government is obliged to adhere to Article 25.1
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
which says "Everyone has the right to an
adequate standard of living, adequate for their
health and well-being of himself and his family,
including food, clothing and housing".
Moreover, the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, which Pakistan has
ratified, emphasizes "adequate standard of
living for every citizen" (Article 11.1).
Therefore, we call your attention to this denial
of the basic rights of your citizens and request
your government to provide reasonable
compensation and respectable resettlement -
including potable water supply, medical services,
educational facilities, roads, tele-communication
facilities, security of life, sewage lines,
electricity and job opportunities - to the people
affected by the Lyari Expressway.
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Background
Lyari
Expressway Project
Housing is a serious problem in Pakistan. Being the
biggest metropolitan city of Pakistan, Karachi has an
estimated 12-14 million people, accounting for half of
its population, living in unregulated areas.
Funded by Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the
Lyari Expressway is a 16.5 kilometer highway project.
Hotline issued a previous appeal, SUA020208(2), on this
project in February 2002. The River Lyari is actually a
sewage canal in Karachi. The Lyari Expressway was
proposed in 1989 as an alternative to the Northern Bypass
that was to be built over the River Lyari, but the
provincial government of Sindh province decided to build
the Expressway along the banks of the River Lyari. In
June 2000, officials of the present military government
decided to build both the Bypass and the Lyari
Expressway. In January 2002, the provincial government of
Sindh ordered the demolition of 3 townships to make way
for the Expressway. In April 2002, President General
Pervaiz Musharaf performed the groundbreaking of the
project.
Residents of River Lyari communities were a mixed
population of Hindus, Christians and Muslims. A majority
of them worked as laborers, domestic helpers or beggars.
Families living nearby used to collect garbage to recycle
in neighboring factories. These people settled in this
area about 30 years ago, migrating from Dadu and
Hyderabad, two other districts of Sindh province. They
had been engaged in agriculture in Dadu and Hyderabad but
the dry spell forced them to move to Karachi city.
Even before the eviction for the Expressway, these people
were not provided basic amenities. They managed to
survive on their own without any help from the city
government or any other civic agencies. Environmental
conditions are poor as in other similar settlements
located nearby.
Lack of appropriate amenities in new settlements
Affected families were resettled 25 kilometers away from
the city in Hawkesby, which lacks basic amenities, such
as clean water, transportation, medical facilities,
educational facilities and electricity.
Proper education is not provided by the government in new
settlements. There are only 9 schools: 7 are run by a
local NGO and the other 2 schools are operated by
government aid. Two other schools are under construction.
These few schools would not be able to meet the needs of
a growing population.
Children have dropped out of school because schooling has
become unaffordable for their jobless parents. Findings
of the local organizations show that over 64% of boys
have discontinued their studies and started searching for
jobs to assist their families; no girls have rejoined
school in the new resettlement site.
Each year, at least 10-12 pregnant women need medical
care and emergency medical treatment which are lacking in
the new site. Three to four pregnant women die every
month in the new site as they are unable to reach a
well-equipped hospital on time.
According to a local NGO fact finding report, 30% of
skilled labor have lost their jobs since 2002 and 50% are
jobless for a few months to one year. According to
official reports, the government has given Rs. 50,000
(US$ 833) and a plot of 80 square yards to 10,000
affected families. But the process of this compensation
and allotment is not transparent. Corruption has been
noted by the monitoring team of Urban Resource Centre
Karachi, an NGO working to stop forced evictions, in
allotment and compensation process. Affected families are
staying in rented homes around their old localities so
that they can continue their jobs and the children can
continue their schooling.
It is estimated that around 600 acres of land are
required for respectable resettlement of these affected
families and businesses.
Violations caused by the project
The seriousness of the eviction for the project
has gained the attention of Mr. Miloon Kothari, UN
Special Rapporteur on adequate housing. In his statement
dated 26 May 2006, he recognized the lack of public
participation, inadequate relocation site and excessive
use of force during eviction. He thus, called for an
immediate halt of all forced evictions and genuine
consultations with the people.
According to the 2006 UN Report of the Special Rapporteur
on adequate housing, states should follow the basic
principles and guidelines on development-based evictions.
Such guidelines include, among others:
- conducting comprehensive impact assessments in advance
of evictions that take into account the impact on women,
children and other vulnerable groups.
- affirming the obligation of states to recognize the
fundamental human rights of evicted persons to return,
resettlement and fair and just compensation.
- written notification to all affected persons
sufficiently in advance with a view towards minimizing
the adverse impacts of evictions.
However, demolitions for the expressway across the Lyari
River were conducted without technical vetting or
independent evaluation. Moreover residents were not
consulted or given a chance to air grievances at public
hearings.
In October 2003 the High Court of Sindh directed the
National Highway Authority (NHA), Government of Sindh and
the District Government of Karachi to review the design
of the Expressway so as to minimize the number of people
affected by this project. However, it was found that from
January 2002 to October 2003 many homes were demolished
that do not even fall under the path of the expressway.
It is alleged that the motive was to take control of
prime land to serve special political and criminal
interests.
Source:
Urban Resource Centre Karachi
Daily Dawn, Pakistan
The Daily Times, Pakistan
2006 Report of UN Special
Rappouteur on adequate housing
Statement of the UN Speical
Rapporteur on adequate housing dated 26 May 2006
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