Squatting in Asia

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Slums in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Just another way to bath @ Saigon.jpg
Slums in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Squatting in Asia occurs when land or buildings are occupied without formal right of tenure. Following the end of World War II and the collapse of many colonial regimes, there was a huge net migration from rural to urban areas across Asia, which resulted in people living in informal settlements. By the 2010s, places such as Hong Kong and Singapore succeeded in reducing the number of squatters, whereas in Bangkok and Jakarta still have high numbers. Factors such as war and natural disaster can result in displacement and squatting.

Contents

Overview

Pavement dwellers in Japan Street dwellers in San'ya district in Tokyo Japan.jpg
Pavement dwellers in Japan

Asia has a history of squatting which reaches back to ancient times. [1] Archaeologists have documented evidence of Bronze Age squatters in what is now Jordan at Tall al-Fukhår and Tell Brak in modern-day Syria. [2] In the sixth or seventh century, churches were constructed on the islands of Dalma, Marawah and Sir Bani Yas in the Persian Gulfl after they fell out of use, there is evidence that squatters occupied them. [3]

Following the end of World War II and the collapse of many colonial regimes, there was a huge net migration from rural to urban areas across Asia. This urbanization process was not necessarily in response to demand for labour and many migrants were forced to find shelter in informal settlements, which were often squatted, meaning that people lived there without formal right of tenure. [4] [5] The number of residents in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, increased from almost 3 million in 1961 to over 4.5 million a decade later. [5] By 2014, the Jakarta metropolitan area had 28 million people, of which between 20 and 25 per cent were squatters, whilst Bangkok in Thailand had an estimated population of between 9 and 10 million of which 20 to 30 per cent were squatting. [4] The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) notes that people living in informal settlements can experience poverty and sub-optimal services. [6] As states have moved from repressing squatters to incorporating them into formal housing structures, by the 2010s places such as Hong Kong and Singapore succeeded in reducing the number of squatters, whereas in Bangkok and Jakarta still have high numbers. [4]

Factors such as war and natural disaster often result in displacement and thus squatting. As a result of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War around 800,000 Azeri refugees from Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding Azeri provinces (captured by Armenian forces from Karabakh by 1994) were forced to take any option for shelter such as squatting by the roadside, paying for hotels or living in tent cities. [7] Thousands of refugees squatted Azeri homes and were tolerated by the authorities, which insisted that they would return home eventually to Nagorno-Karabakh. By 2010, residents of the capital Baku were protesting that they wanted their homes back. [8] A World Bank report on housing in Baku stated there were various types of informal settlements including inner city squatter housing and upgraded squatter settlements. [9] Jordan has experienced three waves of mass immigration following the 1948 Palestine war, Six-Day War (1967) and the Gulf War (1990–1991) which placed a strain on housing capacity. After the Six-Day War the Jordanian government's department of statistics recorded that there were 140,000 refugees squatting in Amman as well as 109,000 in United Nations camps. [10] During the Syrian civil war which started in 2011, 2.3 million Syrians fled the country and only 20 per cent of this total entered refugee camps, with the rest finding other housing solutions which included occupying derelict factories in Lebanon. [11]

By 2003, 70 per cent of Kabul in Aghanistan had been destroyed by what became the 2001–2021 war in Afghanistan and Médecins Sans Frontières reported there were tens of thousands of squatters, living without adequate food supply and medical facilities. [12] Conflict has also displaced many people from their homes across the country. In 2019 alone the United Nations estimated 600,000 people had been forced to move. In addition, three million Afghans have returned from neighbouring countries Pakistan and Iran since 2015. Many of these people have ended up in squatted informal settlements. [13] As of 2018, 78 per cent of the people living in 34 cities were slum dwellers and most of the housing stock was informal. [14] In the 2000s, the Afghan authorities had attempted to provide housing through the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (MUDH) but demand far outstripped supply and so in the 2010s, the policy switched to slum upgrading. [14] The Special Land Dispute Court was founded in 2002 to arbitrate cases regarding disputed land ownership (including squatting). [15]

East Timor became a country in 2002, after previously being occupied by first Portugal and then Indonesia. Following the independence struggle, the new state had no land registry and no process for squatters to be evicted. [16] This created problems as people displaced by war returned to their homes to find them occupied by squatters, who in some cases had rented them out and wanted a monetary settlement before leaving. [17] Land claimaints can be broken into four groups, namely those who currently possess land, those claiming land they owned under Portuguese rule, those claiming land they possessed under Indonesian rule and people asserting customary or traditional land rights. [16] In 2006, conflict again broke out and 100,000 people were displaced; as before, when residents returned to their homes they found them squatted. [18]

In Mongolia, pastoral nomads live in ger (yurts). Severe weather disasters known as dzuds have resulted in herds dying and many nomads have moved to living in their ger in informal settlements ringing the capital Ulaanbaatar. [19] [20] The majority (61 per cent) of Ulaanbaatar's population of 1.1 million people live in ger, which tend to have electricity but not sanitation. [21] Nepal has protected areas and there have been instances of people being displaced from their homes when these areas are created. When the Sukla Fata wildlife reserve was enlarged in 1981, 3,000 families were evicted. Whilst some were resettled, many began squatting in the forest nearby. People have also been displaced from Bardiya National Park and Chitwan National Park. [22]

Naming

Squatted informal settlements go by a variety of names: in Bangladesh, they are known as 'bastees'; in Iran 'koukhnishinan'; in Kyrgyzstan 'novostroyki'; in Pakistan 'bastis' or 'katchi abadis'; in South Korea 'P'anjach'on'. [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] In the Khmer language, "squatter" means an anarchist and "squatters settlements" literally translate as 'places where anarchy and confusion reign', therefore squatters in Cambodia are officially referred to by different names, such as the "urban poor" or "temporary residents". [28] : 5, 18, 21  After the Khmer Rouge was ousted in 1975, many people returned to Phnom Penh and began living in their old houses or squatted informal settlements if their homes were already occupied. [29] Until the end of the 1990s, the Phnom Penh authorities did not recognise squatters and tended to evict squats. As of 2003, an estimated 25 per cent of the city's population were squatters. [28] : 5, 16 

After the French conquest of Vietnam, the French colonial empire introduced land tenure rights which favoured settler colonialists. [30] The 1946 constitution introduced by Hồ Chí Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam set up private land ownership and this was then overturned by the 1980 constitution which gave ownership of all land to the state. [30] A 1963 Government circular had regularized squatting on land owned by the state by making the squatters tenants. [31] The state then introduced the possibility to buy and sell land with the 1993 Land Law, although by 2001 it had not still given out titles; despite this confusion over ownership rights, Ho Chi Minh City has a thriving real estate market. [32]

Adverse possession in Afghanistan can be achieved after 15 years of continuous possession, although there are exceptions to the rule. [15] In Indonesia, the doctrine applies to state land only and squatters can apply for it after ten years of continuous possession. [33]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting</span> Unauthorized occupation of property

Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there were one billion slum residents and squatters globally. Squatting occurs worldwide and tends to occur when people find empty buildings or land to occupy for housing. It has a long history, broken down by country below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Zimbabwe</span>

Squatting in Zimbabwe is the settlement of land or buildings without the permission of the owner. Squatting began under colonialism. After Zimbabwe was created in 1980, peasant farmers and squatters disputed the distribution of land. Informal settlements have developed on the periphery of cities such as Chitungwiza and the capital Harare. In 2005, Operation Murambatsvina evicted an estimated 700,000 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in South Korea</span> Occupation of land or buildings without the permission of the relevant authorities

Squatting in South Korea is the occupation of land or buildings without the permission of the relevant authorities. From the 1950s onwards, shanty towns called P'anjach'on formed around cities, in particular the capital Seoul. As well as providing housing, squatting is used as a tactic by groups opposing gentrification and striking workers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Peru</span> Occupation of unused land or derelict buildings in Peru

Squatting in Peru is the occupation of unused or derelict buildings or land without the permission of the owner. From the 1940s onwards, land invasions created shanty towns which were first called barriadas and later pueblos jóvenes. They were initially repressed, then the government decided upon toleration and by 1998 it was estimated 2.5 million inhabitants were living in this way in the capital Lima. There are also slum tenements in the centre known as solares or tugurios, and a "Wall of Shame" has been built to separate rich and poor areas of the city. During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in the occupation of UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as Caral and the Nazca Lines was reported.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Ghana</span>

Squatting in Ghana is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. Informal settlements are found in cities such as Kumasi and the capital Accra. Ashaiman, now a town of 100,000 people, was swelled by squatters. In central Accra, next to Agbogbloshie, the Old Fadama settlement houses an estimated 80,000 people and is subject to a controversial discussion about eviction. The residents have been supported by Amnesty International, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions and Shack Dwellers International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Albania</span> Occupation of unused buildings

Squatting in Albania began on a large scale in the 1990s after the fall of communism, with internal migration towards formerly collectivised farmland establishing informal settlements. One such area, Bathore on the periphery of the capital Tirana, had 40,000 squatters by the early 2000s who successfully campaigned for better amenities. Other squatters occupied severely polluted post-industrial sites. The Agency of Legalization, Upgrading, and Integration of Informal Zones and Buildings (ALUIZNI) had legalized 16,500 homes on 152 settlements by 2009. As of 2020, 25 per cent of the population of Albania's cities lived in informal settlements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Chile</span> Occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner

Squatting in Chile is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. From the 1960s onwards, informal settlements known as callampas were permitted although there were also evictions such as the massacre of Puerto Montt in 1969. In the 1970s, the government of Salvador Allende encouraged occupations, then following the coup d'état, the military junta repressed squatting. Callampas then became known as campamentos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Brazil</span>

Squatting in Brazil is the occupation of unused or derelict buildings or land without the permission of the owner. After attempting to eradicate slums in the 1960s and 1970s, local governments transitioned to a policy of toleration. Cities such as Recife, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo have large informal settlements known as favelas. A more recent phenomenon is the occupation of buildings in city centres by organised groups. In rural areas across the country, the Landless Workers' Movement (MST) arranges large land occupations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in the Philippines</span> Occupation of derelict land or abandoned buildings

Urban areas in the Philippines such as Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao have large informal settlements. The Philippine Statistics Authority defines a squatter, or alternatively "informal dwellers", as "One who settles on the land of another without title or right or without the owner's consent whether in urban or rural areas". Squatting is criminalized by the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992, also known as the Lina Law. There have been various attempts to regularize squatter settlements, such as the Zonal Improvement Program and the Community Mortgage Program. In 2018, the Philippine Statistics Authority estimated that out of the country's population of about 106 million, 4.5 million were homeless.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Bangladesh</span>

Squatting in Bangladesh occurs when squatters make informal settlements known as "bastees" on the periphery of cities such as Chittagong, Dhaka and Khulna. As of 2013, almost 35 per cent of Bangladesh's urban population lived in informal settlements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Sri Lanka</span>

Squatting in Sri Lanka occurs when people are displaced by war or natural disasters, find it difficult to transfer title or build shanty towns. The Government of Sri Lanka has attempted to regularize squatter settlements. In 2020, there were reported to be over 600,000 squatters on state land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Angola</span> Occupation of unused land or derelict buildings in Angola without permission of owner

Squatting in Angola occurs when displaced peoples occupy informal settlements in coastal cities such as the capital Luanda. The Government of Angola has been criticized by human rights groups for forcibly evicting squatters and not resettling them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Cambodia</span> Property squatting in the country of Cambodia

Squatting is common in the country of Cambodia. Following the Khmer Rouge and the Pol Pot regime, the new democratic government introduced land reform. In the capital Phnom Penh, where in 2003 an estimated 25 per cent of the population was squatting, there are informal settlements and occupied buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Thailand</span> Occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without permission of owner

Squatting in Thailand was traditionally permissible under customary law and adverse possession can occur after ten years of continuous occupation. As of 2015, the capital Bangkok had over 2 million squatters, out of a population of around 10 million. A survey of slums across the country noted in 2000 that most were rented not squatted; Khlong Toei District in Bangkok contains both squatters and tenants. There are also squatters in rural areas. The 1975 Agricultural Land Reform Act aimed to redistribute land to poor people under the Sor Por Kor program and as of 2019, 36 million rai of land had been assigned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Tunisia</span>

Squatting in Tunisia is the occupation of derelict land or unused buildings without the permission of the owner. Informal settlements known as "gourbivilles" sprang up in the French protectorate of Tunisia in the 1930s and again after World War II. As French colonialists introduced the concept of private property to nomadic tribes, lawyers such as Habib Bourguiba represented the rights of squatters. By the time Tunisia became an independent republic in 1956, the capital Tunis was ringed by gourbivilles. The response of the authorities was to evict and forcibly resettle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Liberia</span>

Squatting in Liberia is one of three ways to access land, the other two being ownership by deed or customary ownership. The informal settlement West Point was founded in the capital Monrovia in the 1950s and is estimated to house between 29,500 and 75,000 people. During the First Liberian Civil War 1989–1997 and the Second Liberian Civil War 1999–2003, many people in Liberia were displaced and some ended up squatting in Monrovia. The Ducor Hotel fell into disrepair and was squatted, before being evicted in 2007. In the early 2020s, over 9,000 Burkinabés were squatting on remote land and the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) announced a plan to title all land in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Haiti</span>

Squatting in Haiti is the occupation of unused land or abandoned buildings without the permission of the owner. Following the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804), squatters acquired smallholdings across the country. As the capital Port-au-Prince grew, so did the informal settlements ringing it. In the Bel Air district, there is some squatting whilst most people pay rent, building their own homes. In 2004, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was deposed in a coup and poor areas such as Bel Air and Cité Soleil erupted in violence. Peacekeepers from the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti later evicted ex-combatants squatting in the house of Aristide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Mexico</span>

Squatting in Mexico has occurred on the periphery of Mexico City from the 19th century onwards. As of 2017, an estimated 25 per cent of Mexico's urban population lived in informal settlements. In Mexico City, there are self-managed social centres. The CORETT program aims to help squatters to register their land plots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Kenya</span> Residential occupation in farms and cities

During the colonial occupation of Kenya, Black Africans working on farms owned by white settlers were called "squatters" by the British. As of 1945, there were over 200,000 such squatters in the Highlands and more than half were Kikuyu. The Mau Mau rebellion began amongst these squatters in the late 1940s and after independence in the early 1960s, peasants started squatting land in rural areas without the permission of the owner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Romania</span>

Squatting in Romania began in the capital Bucharest in the eighteenth century. After the Romanian Revolution in 1989, laws were abolished and the state had no land management policy. Problems with the state provision of housing have pushed people into squatting in areas such as Ferentari. The first public squat in Romania was Carol 53, occupied in 2012.

References

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  2. ↑ Strange, John. "Tall al-Fukhår 1990–93 and 2002" (PDF).
  3. ↑ Elders, Joseph (2001). "The lost churches of the Arabian Gulf: recent discoveries on the islands of Sir Bani Yas and Marawah, Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates". Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies. 31: 47–57. ISSN   0308-8421. JSTOR   41223670.
  4. 1 2 3 Aldrich, Brian C. (1 April 2016). "Winning their place in the city: Squatters in Southeast Asian cities". Habitat International. 53: 495–501. doi:10.1016/j.habitatint.2015.12.001. ISSN   0197-3975.
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  6. ↑ Ajlouni, Musa T. (January 2016). "Social determinants of health in selected slum areas in Jordan: challenges and policy directions". The International Journal of Health Planning and Management. 31 (1): 113–125. doi:10.1002/hpm.2267. PMID   25280236.
  7. ↑ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1995). Human Rights Watch World Report 1995 – Azerbaijan.
  8. ↑ "Azerbaijan: Karabakh Squatters Cling On". IWPR. 10 March 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  9. ↑ World Bank Group. "Greater Baku Housing Sector Diagnostic" (PDF). Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  10. ↑ Al-Azhari, Wael W. (2012). "A Study of Housing Identity in Refugee Settlements in Jordan: Al-Wahdat Refugee Camp as a Case Study". International Journal of Environment, Ecology, Family and Urban Studies. 2 (3): 26–45.
  11. ↑ Staff writer(s) (31 December 2013). "Syrians Living as Outsiders, as Squatters or in Camps". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  12. ↑ "Ideas & opinions from MSF: The squatters of Kabul – Afghanistan". ReliefWeb. 2003.
  13. ↑ Torode, Greg (15 February 2019). "Life in Kabul's squatter camps highlights challenge for any Afghan peace". Reuters. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  14. 1 2 French, Matthew; Popal, Abdul; Rahimi, Habib; Popuri, Srinivasa; Turkstra, Jan (April 2019). "Institutionalizing participatory slum upgrading: a case study of urban co-production from Afghanistan, 2002–2016". Environment and Urbanization. 31 (1): 209–230. Bibcode:2019EnUrb..31..209F. doi:10.1177/0956247818791043. S2CID   158071778.
  15. 1 2 An Introduction to the Property Law of Afghanistan. Stanford Law School: Afghanistan Legal Education Project (ALEP). 2015.
  16. 1 2 Carson, Amy Ochoa (2 January 2007). "East Timor's Land Tenure Problems: A Consideration of Land Reform Programs in South Africa and Zimbabwe" (PDF). Indiana International & Comparative Law Review. 17 (2): 395–430. doi:10.18060/17554. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  17. ↑ "Timor-Leste: IDPs returning home, but to ongoing poverty and lack of access to basic services" (PDF). Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. 31 October 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  18. ↑ "IDP returns slowed by squatters occupying homes". East Timor Law & Justice Bulletin. 23 September 2008. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  19. ↑ Caldieron, Jean M. (2 October 2013). "Ger Districts in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: Housing and Living Condition Surveys". International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies. 4 (2): 465–476. ISSN   2028-9324.
  20. ↑ Ikegami, Madoka (10 May 2016). "Mongolia's dzud disaster". New Internationalist. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  21. ↑ Byambadorj, Tseregmaa; Amati, Marco; Ruming, Kristian J. (August 2011). "Twenty-first century nomadic city: Ger districts and barriers to the implementation of the Ulaanbaatar City Master Plan: Nomadic city: Ger districts in Ulaanbaatar". Asia Pacific Viewpoint. 52 (2): 165–177. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8373.2011.01448.x.
  22. ↑ Kothari, Ashish; Wani, Milind (2007). "Protected areas and human rights in India— the impact of the official conservation model on local communities". Policy Matters. 15: 87–99.
  23. ↑ Mobrand, Erik (2008). "Struggles over Unlicensed Housing in Seoul, 1960–80". Urban Studies . 45 (2): 367–389. doi:10.1177/0042098007085968. ISSN   0042-0980. JSTOR   43197757. S2CID   154219426.
  24. ↑ Hierman, Brent; Nekbakhtshoev, Navruz (March 2014). "Whose land is it? Land reform, minorities, and the titular "nation" in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan". Nationalities Papers. 42 (2): 336–354. doi:10.1080/00905992.2013.857298.
  25. ↑ van der Linden, Jan (1991). "Security and Value: Squatter Dwellings in Karachi". In Donnan, H.; Werbner, P. (eds.). Economy and Culture in Pakistan. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 62–76. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-11401-6_3. ISBN   978-1-349-11401-6.
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  27. ↑ Bayat, Asef (1994). "Squatters and the State: Back Street Politics in the Islamic Republic". Middle East Report (191): 10–14. doi:10.2307/3012710. ISSN   0899-2851. JSTOR   3012710.
  28. 1 2 Fallavier, Pierre (2003). "The case of Phnom Penh" (PDF). Urban Slums Reports. UCL. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  29. ↑ McPherson, Poppy (23 July 2014). "Inside the famous Phnom Penh cinema that has become a living nightmare". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  30. 1 2 Le, Toan (15 April 2020). "Dong Tam Land Dispute Exposes Vietnam's Rights and Democracy Challenges". The Diplomat. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  31. ↑ Land Reform in Vietnam: Legal framework and program status. Stanford Research Institute. 1968. p. 18.
  32. ↑ Kim, Annette M. (2004). "A market without the 'right' property rights". Economics of Transition and Institutional Change. 12 (2): 275–305. doi:10.1111/j.0967-0750.2004.00179.x. S2CID   154166978.
  33. ↑ "Land and Slum Upgrading" (PDF). Slum Upgrading Facility. 10. 2009.
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