GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters):
Rights activists on Tuesday accused Nigeria, the Philippines and Greece of being the world's worst violators of housing rights during 2006, including mass evictions and discrimination.
The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), a non-governmental group, estimated nearly two million people in Africa and 2.1 million people in the Asia Pacific region have been forcibly evicted from their homes since 2003, mostly to make way for land development projects.
Disregard for human right
"Although many governments continue to violate the right to adequate housing, in 2006, Nigeria, the Philippines and Greece stand out for appalling disregard for this basic human right," COHRE said in a statement.
It accused Nigeria of forcibly evicting 800,000 people from Abuja over the past three years, destroying 49 informal settlements, in a drive to reallocate land use in the capital.
Only a handful of those evicted have been able to access plots of land at relocation sites in Nigeria, and few have been able to afford to build new homes, the Geneva-based group said.
Asian summit
It alleged some 145,000 people were displaced from Manila and the Philippines' Bulacan province since early 2005 because of efforts to upgrade the country's national railway, and in preparation for an Asian summit to be held next week.
"Most of the evictees have been moved to relocation sites where living conditions are appalling due to a lack of basic services such as potable water, electricity and sanitation facilities," the group said.
In European Union member Greece, COHRE said Roma communities faced segregation, discrimination in accessing housing services, and forced evictions by local authorities.
"The conditions in which these communities live are dehumanising and constitute a grave human rights violation by the government of Greece," the group said.
Last year, COHRE named Zimbabwe, China and the Indian state government of Maharashtra for housing violations. The United States was cited in 2004 for poor conditions at home and for bombing campaigns that caused homelessness in Iraq.
"Governments in both developed and developing countries are not taking their legal obligations seriously," said Jean du Plessis, the group's executive director. "The world is, clearly, in the midst of a housing rights and evictions crisis."
