Squatting in Costa Rica was used by settlers to expand the frontier. It was regulated in law and then criminalised in 1961, yet occupations continued, in particular peasants using land invasions to gain property for living and farming. In the 1990s squatters clashed with absentee landlords.
Squatting in Costa Rica began as settlers expanded the frontier. [1] It was legitimated as a means to access land by laws enacted in 1885 and 1888. [2] As in most Latin American countries, land titles can be acquired in Costa Rica through usucaption. Claimants, amongst them squatters, can present evidence to the court that they have been in continuous and open occupation for ten years and with the support of the neighbours they often gain title. [3] [4] A 1941 ordinance (Ley de informaciones posesorias) declared that a maximum of 300 hectares could be claimed in this way. The following year, the Ley de poseedores en precario was intended to enable owners whose land in the Central Valley had been squatted to claim state-owned areas in replacement. Since the compensation was decided by local land price, huge tracts of cheap frontier land were taken by just twenty owners; they took 512,000 hectares which was 10 per cent of the total land mass. [4] [1]
In the 1950s, peasants found places to live and farm through land invasions. Squatting (and frontier colonisation in general) was criminalised in 1961, yet as the population grew in the 1960s and 1970s, the peasant land grabs increased both in number and scale, aided by urban students. [1] [5] The Osa Peninsula saw many occupations in the early 1970s as peasants took over 10,000 hectares until President Daniel Oduber Quirós created the Corcovado National Park. The park pitted squatters against environmentalists, and the latter won since they had more access to power. [6] In Guanacaste Province, peasants often squatted to gain access to land from the 1950s until the 1980s. [2]
In the 1990s, there were several incidents in which squatters clashed with absentee land-owners from abroad. In one dispute in Pavones, both a US rancher and a campesino (tenant farmer) were killed; [7] in another, a German plantation owner employed vigilantes who evicted squatters and then were disarmed by state forces. [8] Consequently, caretakers were used by foreign owners to protect their properties and in some cases the caretakers themselves took possession as squatters. [9]
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. A variation is Street Squatting which is the action of occupying public areas without lawful permission, such as outdoor parks or streets. It has a long history, broken down by country below.
In England and Wales, squatting—taking possession of land or an empty house the squatter does not own—occurs for a variety of reasons which include needing a home, protest, poverty, and recreation. Many squats are residential; some are also opened as social centres. Land may be occupied by New Age travellers or treesitters.
Squatting in the Republic of Ireland is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. In the 1960s, the Dublin Housing Action Committee highlighted the housing crisis by squatting buildings. From the 1990s onwards there have been occasional political squats in Cork and Dublin such as Grangegorman, the Barricade Inn, the Bolt Hostel, Connolly Barracks, That Social Centre and James Connolly House.
Squatting in Spain refers to the occupation of unused or derelict buildings or land without the permission of the owner. In Francoist Spain migrant workers lived in slums on the periphery of cities. During the Spanish transition to democracy, residential squatting occurred in Spanish cities such as Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Valencia and Zaragoza. From the 1980s onwards a new generation of squatters set up self-managed social centres which hosted events and campaigns. The 1995 Criminal Code among other things criminalised squatting, but failed to stop it. Social centres exist across the country and in Barcelona and Madrid in particular. In the Basque Country they are known as gaztetxes.
Squatting in Slovenia is the occupation of derelict buildings or unused land without the permission of the owner. Housing was illegally built from the 1960s onwards and informal settlements have been set up by Romani people or poor immigrants. In the capital Ljubljana, there is the autonomous zone of Metelkova and the Rog self-managed social centre was evicted in early 2021.
Squatting in Malaysia is the occupation of unused or derelict buildings or land without the permission of the owner. Squatting began after World War II and is governed by various laws. Recently, the government has announced its intention to house squatters in affordable housing.
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.
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.
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.
Squatting in Honduras is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. As the population of Honduras grew from the 1960s onwards, peasants occupied land. The Government of Honduras responded by giving peasants title to land and deporting Salvadoran migrants. The measures had limited success and in the 2010s, squatters continued to self-organise land invasions. The indigenous Miskito people are affected by squatters who practice illegal logging and drugs trafficking.
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.
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.
Squatting in Iran mostly occurs around the major cities, as rural migrants move to urban centres. From the 1950s onwards shanty towns have been set up and inhabitants are known as "koukhnishinan". Following the Iranian Revolution of 1979, squatter settlements increased, with the state sometimes evicting and sometimes legalizing the areas.
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.
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.
Squatting in Taiwan is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. Squatting was fuelled by migrants from China from the 1950s onwards and in addition cities such as the capital Taipei were swelled by internal migrants from the countryside. In order to create Daan Forest Park, 12,000 squatters were evicted. The informal settlement at Treasure Hill has been recognized as cultural heritage.
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.
Squatting in Uganda is the occupation of derelict buildings or unused land without the permission of the owner. The complicated history of land tenure has generated conflicts between squatters and owners.
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.
Squatting in Scotland is criminalised by the Trespass Act 1865. Following the Highland Clearances, land raids occurred across rural Scotland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, for example in Vatersay and Knoydart. More recently there have been land occupations as both road protests and as part of the Occupy movement. Baile Hoose was occupied during the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.
