COHRE Newsletter 14th Edition Sri Lanka 2010

COHRE-NEWS

N ews l e t t er o f t he C en t re on H o u sin g R i g h t s an d E v ic t ions - S ri Lan k a

Issue No.14 – April/JuLY 2010

Upgrading of Informal Settlements

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Alternatives to Eviction…

orced eviction is a growing global phenomenon affecting millions of people in both rural and urban areas. Forced evictions change lives of the poor and leaves them unprotected and vulnerable. At present however, there is a growing trend of positive innovation in the work of national and international non -governmental organizations, community organizations and local governments where methods are being developed to avert forced evictions and find viable alternatives.

Sevanatha is one such national nongovernmental organization which works with the local government bodies and community organizations to help the urban

government’s development programme and has been introducing innovative methods and practices for low-income settlement development. Sevanatha is

EDITORIAL In this edition of the newsletter, we present some alternative approaches to upgrading informal settlements as a way of preventing forced evictions.

This issue discusses best practices followed in other parts of the region as well as within Sri Lanka where attempts are being made to come up with alternate actions which would lead to the prevention of forced evictions.

If you have any comments, require additional copies, or wish to subscribe to the mailing list for the Quarterly Newsletter on HLP rights in Sri Lanka or for further information, please contact COHRE office, located at 9/12, Cambridge Place, Colombo 7. Sri Lanka.

Telephone/Fax +94.11.4852105 or e-mail cohresrilanka@cohre.org.

If you wish to share information in our newsletter on any upcoming events concerning HLP planned by your respective organization, of which you would like other organizations to know about, please feel free to contact us on the above given contact details.

Editor : Vaani Kulasegaram Gunathilake

Content Upgrading of Informal Settlements

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alternatives to eviction…

Forced Eviction: A Global Phenomenon

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Responses to Flooding in Indonesia

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How Slum Upgrading Help Resolve Problems of Flooding

Rebuilding Sri Lanka

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The East Timor Land Study Tour The Dowa settlement community working together to build better - Photo by: Sevanatha

and rural poor to work out the issues and challenges connected to forced evictions.

Founded by a group of professionals and community leaders of the urban poor in Colombo, Sevanatha works to meet the demand of urban low-income communities for improving their housing and living environment. It has been playing a role complementary to the

currently involved in a citywide mapping and profiling activity which they carry out with the help of the concerned community members and the relevant municipality councils.

The settlements they choose to work in are examined based on certain characteristics. Usually there are around 24 characteristics they look into. Each

COHRE and Forced Evictions

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Cases to Watch

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Mews Street, Slave Island

Nigeria: Hundreds of thousands face 6 Forced Eviction in Port Harcourt Fact Finding Mission to the Northern Districts of Jaffna, Vavuniya & Mannar

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Events Conducted

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Future Activities

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Housing Rights for Everyone, Everywhere...

characteristic has four indicators.

These indicators help them identify the vulnerability and level of poverty, on which they base their survey and decision making. Once a particular community is identified, they present it to the municipal council of that particular area.

They also identify vacant land in the particular geographical area and this is included in the report they present to the municipality. The thorough survey and report presented to the municipality has a greater effect than suggesting a mere plan to them, since it is more concrete and fact based. This increases the chances of the municipality getting actively involved in the project and supporting the initiative. The community members from the identified areas are involved in the entire process. This empowers the communities and they are made aware of all available resources and options. This puts them in a position to negotiate if a situation of eviction should arise.

Once the communities/ groups are identified, they are organized into savings groups. Through this group, they all become part of a large network. They meet regularly and form into an organized body. This project also promotes the women’s bank (WB) to address issues related to livelihood, w h i l e Sevanatha directly raises the housing and land issues with the relevant authorities. e.g. at present, Sevanantha is working with the Land Reform Commission and Labukele Estate in Nuwara Eliya on allocating land for people in Bambarakele area.

Once the municipality endorses the project, the suggestions are taken to the City Development Committee which has the Mayor of the municipality as the head. This committee comprises members of government institutions such as the Urban Development Authority as well as representatives from the concerned

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communities. The committee meetings are used as a very good opportunity to solve most of the land issues and other problems related to the project. Sevanantha records the meeting proceedings and circulates the minutes among the participants. The minutes as well as the decisions/ actions taken based on the previous meeting are

discussed and followed up in the next meeting.

The city mapping process has so far been conducted in Nuwara Eliya, Kalutara, Galle, Matale and Moratuwa. They are planning the next city mapping to be held in Batticaloa.

Best Practice example from Sri Lanka: The district of Nuwara Eliya, in the central province of Sri Lanka, has most of the town’s poor living in squatter settlements, without land tenure and in extremely bad conditions, without toilets, water supply, drainage or electricity. Many of the settlements are located in steep hills or at the foot of them. Some of these settlements are ‘line houses’ originally built to house the tea plantation workers and their families and some are more recent squatter settlements.

Hawa Eliya (GS division) is a part of the Nuwara Eliya municipal council area. A settlement of 26 families in a place known as ‘Dowa’ in Hawa Eliya has been living there for the past 10 years in shanties and temporary structures. Dowa is situated at the foot of hills, making it vulnerable to many natural disasters. The Dowa land belongs to the Nuwara Eliya municipal council, which was given to these people to live in, when they moved into the area for employment purposes.

Dowa was identified by Sevanatha for onsite upgrading in their mapping process. Once identified, the people were asked to form savings groups. This was followed by action planning workshops to discuss housing ownerships and relevant project details.

Once the issues to be addressed were identified, Sevanatha took the issue and suggestions to the City Development Organizing Committee, which in turn agreed to allocate land based on a planned layout with the help of Sevanantha. The people of the community themselves hired a licensed surveyor who helped them identify plots for each family.

Through the Asian Coalition for Community Action Prograame (ACCA) the community of Dowa paved roads and drains, from a fund which included $2260 from ACCA, $368 from the community and equipment as well as surveying assistance provided by the municipality. UN Habitat too contributed some fund for housing. According to Mr. Jayaratne, president of Sevanatha, “if the city and people do not have a plan, eviction is unavoidable. With a good partnership between the people, government and the organization, the alternative is achievable” and Dowa is one great example which has lived by this thought and proved it is possible.

Forced Eviction: A Global Phenomenon

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he forced eviction of individuals and communities from their homes and land is a growing global phenomenon, affecting millions of people in both rural and urban areas.

Usually it is the poor and the marginalized who are forced to pay the price for it.

Forced evictions are a result of a variety of processes that disadvantage certain sections of society. Research shows many causes of forced evictions among which some are most common. Absence of formal tenure rights, authoritarian top-down planning, development and infrastructure projects, large international events, such as major sporting events etc, urban development and beautification initiatives, property market forces and ‘gentrification’, absence of state support for the poor, political conflict, ethnic cleansing and war are some such common causes. Forced evictions often involve both physical and psychological violence. It is common practice for governments and private operators to use armed police, soldiers, private security guards, criminal gangs or hired thugs and bulldozers during forced evictions.

The term ‘forced eviction,’ as defined in General Comment No.7 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, is “ the permanent or temporary removal of individuals, families and/or communities against their will from homes and/or land that they occupy, without the provision of, and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protection.” The United Nations Human Rights Commission has said that “the practice of forces evictions constitute a gross violation of human rights, in particular the right to adequate housing.”

The right to adequate housing is recognized as a human right in several international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is the key international human rights instrument that articulates the right to adequate housing. The UN committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights states that the right to adequate housing includes

protection against forced eviction. It also states under General Comment No.7, that “Evictions should not result in individuals being rendered homeless or vulnerable to the violation of other human rights.” The right to adequate housing is contained in the provisions of many treaties ratified by Sri Lanka. the most important is in Article 11(1) of International covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Sri Lanka ratified the covenant in 1980.

affected persons; adequate and reasonable notice should be provided for all affected persons prior to the date of eviction; information on the proposed eviction should be made available in a reasonable time to those affected; government officials or other representative should be present during an eviction; persona carrying out the eviction should be properly identified; evictions should not take place in particular bad weather or at night; legal remedies should be available and legal aid should be available to those in need of it to seek redress from the courts.

Community based and non-governmental organizations often undertake a number of activities to prevent forced evictions such as the development of alternative plans in instances where evictions are planned and the establishment of housing rights campaigns or movements and publicizing and exposing planned evictions. These actions have been successful in a number of circumstances, resulting in the prevention of eviction as well as encouraging positive legislative aimed at reducing the scale of eviction.

Relocation camp at Andeoung, near Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Picture Courtesy www.cohre.org)

Evictions are permitted only in highly exceptional circumstances, and then only under strict conditions. Eviction always has to be the last resort, reverted to only after all other possibilities and alternatives had been exhausted. In those exceptional cases where there is absolutely no alternative to eviction, procedural protection should include, as a minimum standard, the following: implementing authorities should engage in meaningful conversation with the

Experience has shown that when ordinary people, including the rural and urban poor, are allowed to participate in planning, it often quickly becomes clear that all kinds of productive alternatives can be negotiated.

Nevertheless, despite the protection of international law, forced evictions are a widespread and growing problem that affects millions of people in rich and poor countries each year. 

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Responses to Flooding in Indonesia How Slum Upgrading Help Resolve Problems of Flooding Surabaya is one of the oldest urban areas in Indonesia. It is a city of rivers and with a population of nearly 3 million, it is the nation’s second largest city. The city’s rapid development and growing private investments has led to increased instanced of evictions of poor settlements in the name of beautification and city infrastructure development. The riverside kampungs in Surabaya had been there for four decades and the people who live there are well established in this place. Its location at the city centre is the main advantage for dwellers that came from Java’s hinterland and are mainly workers in the informal sector.

The term ‘kampung’ (sometimes spelled kampong) is a familiar word in Indonesia’s urban space and has very strong relationship with Indonesian culture itself.

The word was originally used to define a Malay hamlet or village in a Malay-speaking country. Nowadays, kampongs have become a multi dimensional residential area where it covers not only physical term of settlement but also social, economic and cultural entities. Today it is defined as a village in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.

(UPC) to become the first partner on their movement.

Among the main role of UPC in the process was in connecting the dweller’s organization to relevant networks and resources. This invited further support from legal aid groups, professionals, academics, and propoor politicians. Through these networks the riverside dwellers organization was able to commission a scientific assessment of which the result indicated that firstly, 60% of the river contamination came from factories, 15% from communities in Sidoarjo and Surabaya and the rest from other areas at the hinterland and, secondly, that the revitalization of the river can be done by dredging (removing sediments from the river bed) and not necessarily by widening, which could entail eviction.

UPC’s main concern was in building the capacity of key individuals in the community who are the drivers behind the change. UPC facilitates exchanges and study visits of community representatives, among others, to Thailand, Philippines etc to learn about upgrading, community savings and bamboo as an alternate building material. Most of the learning processes involve urban poor in other areas who face the same problems.

Additionally, professionals are invited to teach community survey and mapping, composting and making liquid fertilizers.

UPC’s technical team providesfacilitationon designing communal sanitation facilities, roads and dykes.

A riverside dwelling in Kampung after renovation

In May 2002, an eviction took place in one of the riverside kampungs, sending out a warning to the other six kampungs in the area. These kampungs were blamed for having been the main cause of river pollution and their existence was pointed out as the cause for reduced river capacity, thus generating flooding. To defend their right to stay and refuse the blame put on their activities, the communities united together in the form of an organization, namely the Riverside Dwellers Organizations. Soon they invited the Urban Poor Consortium

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The architect’s impression of the dwellings >>

The kampung’s gradual improvement begins with the house modification where the houses face the river, and also provides inspection roads. By doing so, the river becomes the focal point of the communities and thus, the community residents become the guardians of the river.

Having a concrete improvement at the kampongs and with solid assessment results, the riverside dwellers organization presented the people’s concept in front of the parliament, head to head with the government plan. The parliament was convinced by the people’s concept and opted to follow it. This has lead to the release of by-law No.9/2007 which allows riverside settlement with a 3-5 meter easement. This is the first by- law in Indonesia where the parliament, government and the people were intensely involved in the making process. The by-law is in force for 5 year, allowing the communities enough time to make gradual changes. With the 5 years tenure security, the communities are aware that they need to boost the upgrading process, which is dependent on community savings. Currently the savings groups and the community planning and designing activities are based on a group of 10 residents (G10) this is meant to provide horizontal participation and inclusion of all. This is an example of the decision making process brought to the lowest level. G10 provides greater dynamic s than the riverside dwellers organization where weekly meetings are held to facilitate monitoring and evaluation. Since 2009, the organization of the riverside dwellers had joined the Asian Coalition for Community Action (ACCA) and the Asian Coalition of Housing Rights (ACHR) to boost the community processes to become city wide and hope to include and reach out to all  riverside communities.

Rebuilding Sri Lanka- The East Timor Land Study Tour In February 2010, a group of 12 Sri Lankan government officials participated in a USAID funded study tour to East Timor to examine issues surrounding tenure security, secondary occupation, internal displacement and the importance of developing land policies in a post conflict environment.

Participants included the Commissioner General of Land, land commissioner for the north and east and officials from the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Ministry of Nation Building and Estate Infrastructure Development.

During the tour, discussions were held with key figures from the East Timorese government, international and local non-governmental organizations and agencies and civil society. Participants learned of the challenges East Timor encountered in the wake of its conflict and large-scale population displacement, and how festering land tenure issues contributed to a relapse into civil conflict and further internal displacement. They examined measures adopted by the government to address these issues and made visits to a couple of relevant district offices to observe their work. A major focus of the study tour was the current measures

adopted by East Timor’s National Directorate for Land, Property and Cadastral services, with support from USAID, to establish a national property cadastre.

The manner in which mediation was utilized to resolve land disputes was considered one of the most important lessons learned. Sri Lankan officials examined how mediation boards and community meetings were used as conflict resolution mechanisms.

Participants were also impressed with the simplified data collection method adopted and the process of resettlement. As one of the participating officials noted,

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The process followed by the Timorese in resettlement of IDPs and handling of claims for land was systematic, transparent and participatory and this was a good lesson to take away from the study tour.

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At the completion of the study tour, the participants were more positive about their ability to effect change and address the land tenure issues in a post-conflict Sri Lankan context. Upon return to Sri Lanka, they quickly began to apply lessons learned

COHRE and Forced Evictions Since its formation in 1994, the issue of forced evictions has been central to the work of COHRE. Working with a growing network of organisations and groups around the world, COHRE helped to place this critical issue firmly on the international agenda, and began to develop approaches and strategies to counter the trend. In 2003 COHRE established the Global Forced Evictions Programme (GFEP), which is aimed at the more systematic monitoring, preventing and remedying of forced evictions throughout the world. The programme uses a multi-faceted approach to effectively monitor and take action on pending, present and past forced evictions.

• Initiating and supporting NEW INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS condemning the practice of forced evictions such as General Comment No. 7 (1997): The Right to Adequate Housing (Art. 11.1 of the Covenant): Forced Evictions;

• NETWORKING with local, national, regional and international organisations and groups with a view to monitoring and preventing forced evictions; eg.

Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR), Shack Dwellers’ International (SDI), Environmental Development Action (ENDA), Centre for Public Interest Law, Ghana (CEPIL);

• GLOBAL MONITORING of the scale, frequency and scope of forced evictions, and regular publication of the results (in e.g. the quarterly COHRE Evictions Monitor and bi-annual Global Forced Eviction Survey);

• Initiating and participating in expert groups and meetings on forced evictions (e.g. the Expert Group meeting on development-based displacement; and the UN-Habitat Advisory Group on Forced Evictions);

Some of COHRE’s activities on forced evictions include:

and incorporate best practices into their work. The High Court Judge from Trincomalee invited the Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Justice to join him at a local meeting he was hosting to discuss the importance of mediation boards and land. The Land Commissioner General and his commissioners from the Eastern and Northern provinces developed a plan for a special task force on land management for the north and east incorporating ideas and techniques they had seen in East Timor. They presented this plan to their newly appointed Secretary and to the Minister of Land.

Participants are anxious to meet again as a team and review progress of measures being implemented in the field, and also to seek more technical support and advice from USAID toward piloting projects aimed at adopting the participatory and transparent methods they had learned from East Timor.

This study tour has proved to be an important learning experience for the participants as well as a source of inspiration, that post conflict resettlement with people’s participation is practical and could be successful in a way that benefits both the government and the displaced.  • Conducting INVESTIGATIONS into specific forced evictions (recent examples include Ghana, Indonesia, the Philippines, Colombia, Nicaragua, Kenya, Ireland and South Africa); • Initiating and participating in CAMPAIGNS against forced evictions; • Assisting specific communities to take legal and other action to PREVENT threatened forced evictions; • Working with local groups to DEVELOP VIABLE ALTERNATIVES to threatened forced evictions; • TRAINING of activists, lawyers, judges, government officials and community leaders in using effective legal and other strategies to prevent and remedy forced evictions; • Coverage of forced eviction stories by local, national, regional and international MEDIA. Further details on COHRE’s work on Forced Evictions, country reports, thematic reports, bulletins and documentaries could be found at www.cohre.org

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CASES TO WATCH:

Mews Street, Slave Island Mews Street, Slave Island is situated within the municipality and district of Colombo. The houses standing along Mews Street were demolished by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) on the 8th of May 2010. The 20 odd houses situated in the area housed approximately 107 individuals out of whom 24 are minors.

Background: The people of Mews Street were informed by the UDA that their houses would be demolished and giving them a mere 4 days to vacate. As a last resort the people of Mews Street asked the authorities to grant them one month’s extension to prepare and explore options but this request was denied. They were given a verbal promise that suitable alternate housing would be provided to them by UDA within 8 months. A request to remain in their houses until such an alternative is arranged was also denied.

The people residing in Mews Street claim that they lawfully owned their houses and had registered deeds and/or other legal documents to prove their ownership. Hence they had expressed that they were not agreeable to vacating the houses. They were informed that they would be provided accommodation in the form of 16 temporary houses in Weligoda, Thotalanga and 4 temporary houses at the 1000 scheme flat in Dematagoda. The people demanded to inspect the temporary housing sites and were taken there on the 6th of May 2010, however these options were rejected as being unsuitable as they had an unhealthy

and unsanitary environment and were not comparable to their previous houses.

Eviction: At around 12.00 noon on the 8th of May 2010, approximately 2500 members of the Police Department, Riot Police, Army, Air Force and UDA arrived at Mews Street. The entrance to the Street was cordoned off. Backhoe and diggers were brought in and any attempt made by few concerned parties who arrived at the scene to prevent the demolition from taking place proved to be of no avail.

The residents then engaged in a peaceful protest by sitting down immediately in front of the houses. However, at around 2.00pm the armed forces and riot squad took steps to remove them. Some of the residents claim they sustained injuries caused by a baton charge.

In the interim the residents requested permission to retrieve their personal effects from the houses and were given half an hour to do so by the authorities. Around 4.00pm, all the Mews Street houses were demolished along with their valuable personal items which they were not able to retrieve during the given half an hour.

Aftermath: A majority of the residents were forced to live in makeshift tents/shelter, opposite the street where their houses stood in the past. On the 11th of August 2010 the residents of Mews Street were asked to attend a meeting at the UDA where they were informed that they

NIGERIA: HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS FACE FORCED EVICTION IN PORT HARCOURT, IN VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) dated 28th January 2008 and signed by the Rivers State Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi and Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce, Chairman of the Silverbird Group, the Rivers State government apparently intends to demolish the entire 2 km radius of Obi-Wali Integrated Cultural Centre,including the Abonnema settlement, to enable “development” of the area by the Silverbird Group for private business. The demolitions would result in the eviction of close to half a million families.

impending forced eviction of 350,000 people in Port Harcourt by the Rivers State government.

The letter was copied to Rivers State Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi.

Previous practice shows that such large-scale forced evictions have the potential to lead to other human rights violations, the use of excessive force, and destruction of homes, informal businesses and family livelihoods.

“Even where an eviction is for public interest, international and regional standards make it clear that such evictions must be accompanied by the resettlement of all those likely to be displaced and compensation of landlords for any property affected.”The residents of the Abonnema Wharf settlement lack resources to find alternative housing and are now living in fear of being rendered homeless.

The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan to express grave concern about reports of an

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According to COHRE, the forced evictions would not be in conformity with Nigerian law or regional and international standards. “Nigerian law does not empower state governments to evict anyone from their homes, communities or land for the purpose of private benefit,” said Salih Booker, Executive Director of COHRE.

will be given a rent of Rs.8000/- per month for each house demolished for a period of 12 months and that within the 12 months UDA will provide the residents with suitable acceptable housing. This allowance was granted for each lot and not each family. One lot has around 2-3 families living in it.

They were also offered Rs.5000/- as transport cost to take their belongings to their new accommodation. On 31st of May 2010, several of the residents made a complaint to the Human Rights Commission on the demolition of their houses and the way they were treated by the relevant authorities. Out of the 20 houses, 3 families have taken up housing provided by the UDA. At the moment UDA has promised the 17 petitioners that they will be given houses of 500 sq. feet each by May 2011.

In the petition put forth by 17 of the residents of Mews Street to the Supreme Court the petitioners say that the state has failed to recognize and protect the family unit of the petitioners and to protect with special care the interests of children and youth; and that the state has failed to secure and advance their fundamental rights and has restricted and denied the same in a manner contrary to the Constitution.

The Supreme Court has granted them leave to proceed and has ordered an assessment of the total damage incurred. The lawyers representing the evictees are optimistic and hope that at least a part of the damages will be paid to the affected people in days to come. The next hearing is set for the 7th of September 2010. 

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), in conjunction with the Federal government, undertook a mission to Port Harcourt in 2009 to probe the factors behind previous evictions in the area. The mission’s report, which faulted the State government on several points of law, requested the State government to institute a moratorium on further evictions pending the implementation of a set of recommendations on the issue.

In spite of this, the State government has concluded the arrangement to demolish the entire Abonnema settlement before 15 August 2010, without any plan to resettle residents.

The State government recently stated on AIT and WAZOBIA media programmes that it had no obligation to resettle or compensate any resident before carrying out any demolition.

“Governor Amaechi’s threat of evictions will, if carried out, throw residents into deeper poverty and have a detrimental impact on the ability of children to access education and of families to access health care.”

Source: www.cohre.org

Fact Finding Mission to the Northern Districts of Jaffna, Vavuniya and Mannar In view of the accelerated resettlement programme that was Progression to Permanent housing and Development commenced in December 2009 in the North of Sri Lanka, COHRE Housing is currently limited to humanitarian undertook a Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) to the Districts of Jaffna, shelter assistance with permanent housing some areas. Agencies are selected Vavuniya and Mannar. The overarching objective was to identify in and granted approval by Government issues impacting Housing, Land and Property Restitution (HLPR) to build shelters according to a predesign. The accepted standard in relation to the ongoing “resettlement” programme and the determined for permanent housing, as specified by progressive return of displaced persons to their lands and homes. Government, is the ‘core-housing’ design The information of the FFM will be utilized

by COHRE to promote and advocate for the implementation of rights-based standards for HLPR (premised on the Pinheiro Principles), that are relevant to the Northern context of Sri Lanka, both at the field/grass-roots level and also at the level of policy making and central governance. It is COHRE’s intention, in this regard, to build the capacity and knowledge of relevant stakeholders (both Government and non- Government) and work in close partnership with them.

The term ‘restitution’ is a concept that is increasingly endorsed by the international community as a distinct human right in instances where persons have been subject to much loss and suffering as a result of displacement. In its standard legal meaning, it refers to the legal remedy of placing a person who has suffered a loss in his or her pre-loss position. In a context of displacement, the application of this legal remedy and the realization of the ‘right to restitution’ would mean that there is a specific process and programme in place, not just to return displaced persons to their original lands, but also to restore them to the lives they had prior to displacement.

The term ‘resettlement’ is widely used

by Government to refer to the process of bringing back and settling displaced persons in their original lands and homes.

This process in referred to as ‘return’ in international human rights terminology.

Based on the findings of the FFM, some of the central issues impeding the holistic restitution of displaced persons are as follows:

Land Documentation: The problems affecting the regularization of land documentation in the context of post conflict resettlement is complex and varied, and has several implications for

returning IDPs. The implications differ according to whether the land in question is private land. In the District of Jaffna where land is predominantly privately owned, there are problems with demarcating boundaries of land (especially in High Security Zones) where persons have been deprived of their homes and lands for long periods of time. There is little regularization of documentation pertaining to state land in the District of Vavuniya and in the rest of the Vanni. Displaced persons are returned to their original lands based on the knowledge and verification of local authorities, in the absence of documentation or proof of legal entitlement to return to the particular land in question. The returnees themselves identify their own lands without proper demarcation of boundaries, which can potentially lead to the encroachment of other lands.

Land Tenure and Shelter/Housing It is standard procedure for agencies involved in the building of temporary shelters and permanent housing to require proof of tenure over the land on which they will build. Given the complexities associated with the regularization of land documentation in the North (as outlined above), it is not always possible to establish tenure to coincide with the timing of a shelter or housing programme.

To overcome this problem, the Divisional Secretary issues a letter to shelter/housing agencies, to establish the beneficiary’s tenure over the land. This practice however presents a number of concerns, foremost being that it is unclear what methods the local authorities use to verify that the land in question in fact belongs to the beneficiary on behalf of whom the letter is issued (for a more detailed discussion on this topic, please see COHRE Policy Brief: The Right to Adequate Housing in Post Conflict Restitution and Rebuilding).

used by the World Bank sponsored North East Housing Reconstruction Programme (NEHRP). The Government has made clear that it is commitment to providing all displaced families with permanent housing. However, the current contentions surrounding permanent housing is whether even the accepted/gazette standard of a NEHRP style core-house is possible, given the financial constraints faced by Government. While there is now a pledge by the Government of India to support the construction of 50,000 permanent houses, the estimated need for permanent housing restitution is 160,000. Agencies are willing to build core-housing, but would rather agree on a more cost-effective design to reach a larger number of beneficiaries.

Various alternative designs (of a lesser floor area than the 500 square foot NEHRP core-house) have been suggested. The unavailability of a national ‘minimum standard’ for permanent housing does not help with identifying and assessing the ‘adequacy’ of these alternative designs.

Other issues of no less importance and concern are the continued prevalence of High Security Zones and Military zones; issues of secondary occupation and military occupation of lands and houses; and constraints in institutional capacity and skill to address the particular needs of post conflict housing and land restitution.

Many of these issues will understandably take much time, effort and planning to resolve and will need to be progressively addressed through the different stages of postrecovery and development in the Northern Province. A considerable issue at the present time however, is the lack of a comprehensive policy and plan that effectively guide and push forward the resolution of many of the identified gaps and issues.

The full report of the FFM may be obtained  on request.

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E v en t s C on d u c t e d Workshop conducted by WHRP

F u t u re A c t i v i t ies

The Women’s Housing Rights Programme(WHRP) of the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) successfully conducted two workshops in the month of July 2010 in Batticaloa, one for government officials and another for community based women leaders.

The objectives of the workshops were to share ideas and experiences on issues related to women, land, and housing that confront officials in their day-to-day work, and to give them an understanding of what are women’s housing rights and the relevance of these rights to the work the participants do. Along with other Participants at the workshop actively involved in group work and discussions land related matters, Photo by: Nishandeny Ratnam, COHRE much of the discussion concentrated on the issue of joint ownership. Another main point of discussion was the Head of the Household  concept and how it discriminates against women.

R eso u rce The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions – Sri Lanka (COHRESri Lanka) houses a computerized comprehensive Resource Centre including domestic and international legal publications on housing, land and property (HLP) rights. These publications are categorized under the following headings in order to easily access them.

• Women’s Children’s HLP issues • Return and Restitution • Right to Water • Sri Lankan Legal System • Special Laws in Sri Lanka • COHRE publications • Administrative Law • Civil Law • Conveyancing

• Human Rights Law • Circulars on HLP issues • Law in General • Evidence • Law Reports in Sri Lanka • Law Dictionaries • International Law • Law of Property

New publications are added regularly. We will provide updates periodically.

The Resource Centre can be used by any interested person free of charge. The Resource Centre is open to the public Monday-Friday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

COHRE Sri Lanka office is located at No. 9/12, Cambridge Place, Colombo 07 Telephone/Fax : +94-11-2699559 E-mail – srilanka@cohre.org

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August 2010 activities: WHRP Workshop in the Plantation Sector In the beginning of August the Women’s Housing Rights Programme(WHRP) of the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) is planning to have two workshops in Hatton, targeting the officials of Divisional Secretaries of Nuwara Eliya District and community based women leaders from the plantation sector. The main focus of these workshops will be Women’s Housing Rights and the issue of joint ownership of sate land.

The main focus of these workshops will be Women’s Housing Rights and the issue of joint ownership of state land. COHRE plans to launch a play on women’s property rights in the upcoming workshops in future. COHRE, along with professional theatre personalities has been working on developing this play in the past few months and hopes to launch the play in both Sinhala  and Tamil languages.

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