Sul e Sudeste da Ásia e Pacífico

Angry mob rejects eviction in East Jakarta

Published in Monday May 20th, 2013 In In the media

May 20, 2013 Hundreds of residents of Sumur village in Klender, East Jakarta, blocked a road to prevent a housing developer and personnel from the public order agency (Satpol PP) from evicting them from their residences. East Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Mulyadi Kaharni said on Saturday that the angry mob stopped dozens of vehicles […]

Five Years After A Quake, Chinese Cite Shoddy Reconstruction

Published in Tuesday May 14th, 2013 In In the media

The fear is that the post-quake buildings may also have been built with substandard materials and too hastily, since they were completed in just two years, one year ahead of the target date, as local officials vied to impress their superiors with their efficiency.

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Land Rights and Ethnic Conflict in Burma

Published in Monday May 13th, 2013

Burma is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse countries. Ethnic minorities make up an estimated 30-40 percent of the total population, and ethnic states occupy some 57 percent of the total land area and are home to poor and often persecuted ethnic minority groups. Most of the people living in these impoverished and war-torn areas are subsistence farmers practicing upland cultivation. Economic grievances have played a central part in fuelling the civil war. While the central government has been systematically exploiting the natural resources of these areas, the money earned has not been (re)invested to benefit the local population.

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Property and the Lady

Published in Friday May 10th, 2013 In In the media

THE halo has slipped from Aung San Suu Kyi’s head, at least in the eyes of the monks and villagers of Ah Lay Daw. The Nobel peace prizewinner, who has resumed her career as a working politician in Myanmar, dismayed villagers earlier this month by giving her backing to the development of a copper mine on nearby Letpadaung Mountain, on land that was confiscated from them by the government.

Housing Without Developers

Published in Tuesday April 30th, 2013 In Social movement news

(Português) Na semana passada o Studio X Mumbai realizou um workshop de um dia intitulado provocativamente “Habitação sem Construtoras”. Como elaborado em seu site, o workshop tentou desafiar a aparente inevitabilidade de soluções baseadas no mercado, para os problemas que eles mesmos associaram a privatização do mercado de habitação. Os participantes do workshop discutiram como o desenvolvimento das favelas na Índia e as habitações públicas no ocidente desafiaram as normas aceitas de soluções baseadas no mercado.

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Special Rapporteur sends 19 communications during the second semester of 2012

Published in Tuesday April 30th, 2013 In Dialogue with countries

Check the communications sent by the Special Rapporteurs, as well as the answers received from the Member States, referring to the second half of 2012.

Reconstruction work begins in China’s quake-hit area

Published in Friday April 26th, 2013 In In the media

Chinese authorities in Sichuan province Friday began the reconstruction process in the wake of a deadly earthquake that killed 196 people and injured thousands. As teams kept up a desperate search and rescue effort for survivors in the southwestern province, hit by a 7-magnitude quake Saturday, provincial officials said post-quake reconstruction work cannot wait.

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Residents of Guangzhou new town’s last urban village battle against eviction

Published in Thursday April 25th, 2013 In In the media

Angry Guangzhou natives in the ramshackle village of Tan, the last urban village left standing in the posh Zhujiang New Town, have stepped up their fight in court this week to protect their ancient homes. Four families from Tan appeared before the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court on Wednesday, trying to get their eviction orders overturned. And more than 200 people showed up from Tan and other urban villages that are seeing forced evictions without what the residents consider fair compensation.

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Rebuilding the community of Meiktila, in Myanmar

Published in Wednesday April 24th, 2013 In In the media

After sectarian violence in the central Myanmar city of Meiktila, officials are working hard on reconstruction plans. The riots in March pitted Buddhists against Muslims, leaving dozens dead and a community in ruins. As you walk through the neighborhoods of Meiktila, it’s hard to escape the damage. A month after the violence here, burnt-down houses, destroyed businesses and torched cars dot the streetscape.

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U.S. reconstruction effort in Afghan provinces is unfinished work

Published in Tuesday April 9th, 2013 In In the media

The PRTs have been responsible for only a fraction of the $89 billion the United States has spent over the last decade to rebuild Afghanistan, but they suffered from the same poor planning and inadequate oversight that characterized the broader U.S. reconstruction effort. With four of the PRTs now shut down, and seven others due to be retired by summer’s end, Afghan officials are beginning to confront the challenge of picking up where U.S. aspirations left off.

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