News

Super typhoon Haiyan slams into Philippines, at least three dead

The strongest typhoon in the world this year and possibly the most powerful ever to hit land smashed into the Philippines on Friday, forcing more than a million people to flee, flooding villages and raising fears of widespread casualties.

Roma leader says his people will be forced to beg on Britain’s streets

A Roma leader has warned that travellers who move to Britain from Romania and Bulgaria when the border restrictions are lifted will turn to begging or black market trades if they cannot access social welfare. Rudko Kawczynski, president of the European Roma Travellers Forum, criticised the panic over the opening up of European Union labour markets to Romanians and Bulgarians from January, which has prompted fears about large numbers of Roma heading to Britain, France and Germany.

A Slum Spends Sleepless Nights in Fear of Eviction

On the morning of March 24, 2011, several hundred police officers, accompanied by giant bulldozers, surrounded the slum of Gayatri Colony in west Delhi as part of an eviction drive by the Delhi Development Authority, which claims ownership of the colony’s land.

The right to adequate housing: the UK and the spare room subsidy

By Saving Humans. Last month there was great controversy when the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing commented on the spare-room subsidy. Raquel Rolnik caused a furore by daring to criticise the UK for human rights violations rather than focusing her efforts on graver situations elsewhere in the world.

Joint statement on the Land Rights of Rural Women

In Geneva, on October 9, 2013, HC member group GROOTS Kenya delivered a joint statement on behalf of ActionAid, Global Initiative for Economic Social and Cultural Rights,Huairou Commission, International Accountability Project, International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), International Land Coalition (ILC) Secretariat, and Landesa at the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), 56th Session (30 September 2013 – 18 October 2013), General Discussion on the Rights of Rural Women.

International Tenant’s Day theme 2013: Tenure neutrality

In 2013, the International Tenant´s Day, together with the UN Habitat Day, falls on October 7 – always the first Monday in October. Tenure neutrality is the situation in which the consumer is financially indifferent between owning and renting a dwelling.

Typhoon Fitow hits China’s south eastern coast causing deaths and damage

Authorities evacuated some 786,000 people from Zhejiang province and at least 177,000 from Fujian to safety. Tens of thousands of boats were also called back to harbor across the region.

UN experts raise human rights concerns over POSCO’s plans for $12 billion steel plant in India

A U.N. panel of experts urged South Korean steel giant POSCO on Tuesday to suspend plans for a $12 billion steel plant over concerns the project threatened the rights and livelihoods of tens of thousands in eastern India. The call follows a June report by rights groups saying that illegal land seizures threatened to displace 22,000 people and deprive thousands more of their means of existence in the state of Orissa.

Hungary Cracks Down on Homelessness

According to the regulations, large discarded items in public places are the property of those officially in charge of their removal. Those who are unauthorized to do so face fines and jail time – a rule that targets the many homeless trash collectors in the country.

Indigenous Communities in Paraguay and Ecuador Sign Declaration to Promote Enforcement of Decisions related to the Right to Land

Representatives of the Sarayaku people (Ecuador), Dejusticia (Colombia), and Fundación Pachamama(Ecuador), with the support of ESCR-Net, came together at meetings organized by the Enxet-Sanapaná people together with Tierraviva (Paraguay) on September 26-27. The discussions focused on enforcing decisions by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR).