Rhino update

Correspondent Philippe de Rougemont (Datas and other Swiss newspapers) just wrote me with an update on Rhino, Geneva's most well-known squat--

News on the Geneva (Switzerland) squatter front:
The state prosecutor, Daniel Zappelli elected 2 years
ago is a "zero tolerance" fan. He decided to stop 33
years of tolerance towards squatters in Geneva, in a
recent speech and through everything that was in his
power to do.
But this time even the cantonal authorities say he's
gone too far. He said he would use force to evict
squatters, forgetting that the police is not submited
to his orders, but to the police department headed by
an elected politician.
Why did he get so mad? Because the Rhino aquatters
appealed to the federal tribunal against
his messy evacuation order, on formal grounds, and
won. Then the administrative tribunal in Geneva agreed
with the federal tribunal. Zapelli hit the ceiling
when he heard that.

Reminder: The first modern squats began in 1972 in
Geneva. Since then there has been a sometimes
informal, sometimes explicit doctrine ruling squats:
as long as an owner is not using his house or
building, then it is legitimate for squatters to live
in them. When the owner proves that he will either
mend the house, rent out flats or either sell it, then
the evacuation notice is given and the squatters
leave.

Now that's history, at least as long as Zappelli
stays.

To conclude, there is still a hunger for more comunal
living, there is a huge lack of housing and prices are
going up. So the reasons for a new squatter phenomenon
in Geneva are still very much present.

And Rhino people ?
They benefit from this quarrel between the prosecutor
and the government, and they are on the winning side
for the time being. You can only guess waht will
happen, on one side private property is guaranteed in
the constitution, on the other, the "zero tolerance
fan" has no jurisdiction over the police to force them
to evacuate squatters.

I'm blown away by the capacity these Rhinos seem to
have to avoid the eviction.

********
If you read French, here are two links to articles on the squatter standoff from swissinfo:

le procureur général tancé à propos des squats

Conflit naissant entre judiciaire et politique

Mumbai demolitions

One man's triumph is his neighbor's tragedy. Though the residents of Santacruz (west) in Mumbai were getting flooded out, their solution--to rip down almost 1,000 huts erected by squatters around storm drains--seems a bit extreme, particularly since only half the squatters were relocated prior to demolition. DNA - Daily News & Analysis reports.

Manila promises to re-house railway squatters

More than 10,000 squatters will be relocated from communities along Manila's railway lines, according to this dispatch from the Manila Standard. The residents will have to pay 200 pesos a month for the new homes (about $4.) Monthly carrying costs will more than triple of the course of a 30-year mortgage. Let's hope the government acts honorably here and follows through on this commitment.

Too many people, too few homes

Baltimore Sun reporter Scott Calvert visits Diepsloot (Deep Ditch), a squatter community 15 miles north of Johannesburg. The community, the site of riots a year and a half ago, is home to 150,000 strivers who have recently arrived to seek better jobs in the mega-city.

Money quote: "Up to 12 million people live in crude shelters lacking basic services - a quarter of the country's population, and a 50 percent increase from a decade ago."

Rage at Kenya's corrupt elite

The Telegraph meets the Mungiki, a strange and violent bunch that has grabbed power in some of the squatter areas of Nairobi. "Their standing in their ghetto strongholds has risen in the wake of a huge corruption scandal that has rocked the administration of President Mwai Kibaki in recent weeks," the newspaper reports.

When I was in Nairobi, the Mungiki reportedly controlled several matatu [minibus] routes and exacted tribute from all the drivers. They were rumored to be violent and corrupt, albeit on a slightly smaller level than Kenya's government officials. Still, I rode a matatu to Gitare Marigo and Dandora at a time that Mungiki violence was said to be high and didn't witness anything. Luck? Perhaps. Or perhaps the newspapers don't really know what's happening in poor communities and take all their info from the police, who are also notoriously corrupt.

The high fashion squat

Fashion Model Helena Christensen is supporting the squatters of Christiania in their effort to keep their commune at the heart of Copenhagen, the Telegraph reports. The government claims to harbor no ill will to the squatters, but wants to allow development, condos, and higher income rentals in the area. Of course, this may not jive well with a community that has its own rules to ban cars, stealing, guns, bulletproof vests and hard drugs, and has created its own monetary system.

And why is a fashion model entering the dispute? Well, I had never heard of Helena Christensen (apparently she's been a Victoria's Secret catalog regular), but anyone who headlines her web site with this quote can't be all bad:
"In modeling, there is no point in trying to prove you have a brain, so why even bother? I'd sooner save the energy for something more meaningful."

World's best cricket museum for Dharavi

Developer Mukesh Mehta has big plans for Dharavi, Mumbai's largest squatter community. First he envisioned a Bollywood walk of fame. Now it's a cricket museum. Despite the good words, here's my underlying fear: that the land pressures and ramp up in values that's bound to come with this kind of 'big real estate' plan will wind up excluding the very people this plan is supposed to benefit: the squatters themselves.

Metropolitan

The Independent reports on a massive fire in a squatter community in Bangladesh that has left thousands homeless. But here's a provocative detail from the article: fire department sources tell the paper that the bulk of the shanties consumed by the flames belonged to two men, Sadek Khan and Mohammed Ali. I want to know more about those guys.

And, the article notes something else remarkable: the people are already rebuilding.

Finally, some sensible talk

The East African Standard, in an editorial about the government's burning of thousands of homes belonging to squatters in the Mount Elgon forest in Kenya, eloquently states what ought to be world policy toward squatters who encroach on environmentally sensitive land:

The squatters in Government forests must go, but they should not be flushed to the wilderness since this is tantamount to feeding the cycle that created them, which cannot be broken by might. The only way out is to set aside land to settle the landless and protect forests from fresh encroachment. There is also need for radical land reforms because there’s enough land for all Kenyans.

The Daily Nation reports that the government now promises to relocate the squatters. But, shouldn't that have all been planned out and discussed long ago? Burning people's homes and belongings is no solution at all.

Dharavi is now a realty gold mine

Some major developers (including one firm from California) are competing for a piece of the planned redevelopment of Mumbai's largest squatter community, Daily News & Analysis reports.

One of the reasons: the plan offers developers almost 3 times the density of normal Mumbai developments. And this in a city where the housing market is incredibly tight. Clearly there's money to be made in Dharavi.

But will this kind of speculation help poor people? The track record isn't good.

Here's another take on the plan, from the Times of India.

No pay phones

In a little noticed decision from two weeks back, Brazil's largest telephone company won a court ruling that it is not required to install phones in Rio's favelas. This ridiculous ruling--based on a mistaken, outsider's view of what life is like inside the favelas--is a piece of legalized discrimination. There are lots of 'asfalto' operations (businesses owned by outsiders) that are operating in Rocinha and other favelas that never had to pay a 'vig' to the traffickers. Beer distributors have no problem distributing to the favela. Building supply firms too. The power company has run legal electric lines and sends employees to read the meters. But, somehow, the community is too dangerous for the phone company?

Violence vs. Health

Here's the lead, from a Reuters article: Violence in the slums of Rio de Janeiro is thwarting efforts to combat an outbreak of the dengue fever, which has killed two people and sickened more than 400 in the last six weeks, officials said on Tuesday.

"There are temporary suspensions of inspections in some slum areas with various types of conflicts," a city health spokeswoman said. "That is done in order not to put in danger the lives of inspectors and residents."

Globo newspaper quoted residents of Vigario Geral, one of Rio's most violent slums, as saying they had not received a single dengue inspection since 2004, despite numerous requests for inspectors.

The sad thing here is that officials working on important projects like this are welcomed in the favelas, particularly if they work in mutiroes--mutual aid groups sponsored by the favela residents. Police raids and gang wars are not everyday occurences, so it should be possible, working through residents associations, for the inspectors to get there. If they don't want to go, favela residents should vote the current administration out.

Class contrasts

Poor struggle in shadows of India's richest city. A Reuters reporter confronts Mumbai's dual realities--wealth and squalor--and the people who have suffered at the hands of a government-initiated eviction plan.

Two African cities embrace 'clean ups'

Accra
and
Abuja

No one's against orderly streets. But when this is used to push out the poor, it isn't a clean up. It's an eviction drive masquerading as good government.

Condos for Christiania

Copenhagen authorities plan condos for the city's notorious squatter enclave. The Copenhagen Post reports.

Hidden in the article: Squatters in the 'hood will be facing rent increases of at least 1,000 percent.

No, that's no misprint.

Are squatters polluting Mexico City?

El Universal reports that squatters are continuing to erect shacks along the Mexican capital's canals. "Unchecked growth could contaminate the city´s water supply and worsen its already notoriously bad air," the newspaper reports.

Though it's hard to imagine how squatters could worsen air pollution in the hazy high-altitude city, the point the article is missing is that there need to be alternatives for the squatters if they are to stop occupying sensitive areas.

Also, despite the alarmist tone of the article, if you read down you will discover that, in the past two years, authorities have seen 100 new homes sprout up along the canals--which is hardly a massive influx. It's also unclear who these squatters are. True desperate squatters would be in the homes already. So these homes are probably being built by speculators who are taking advantage of the city's lax enforcement to make a few quick pesos.

So long, Lagos squatters

The Tide reports that the government is planning a 'surprise attack' against 5,000 squatter businesspeople operating kiosks under Lagos bridges. (use Internet Explorer for this link--for some reason it won't display with Mozilla Firefox.)

A little understanding, please

A Kolkata commentator sees the good in gentrification: "Does gentrification improve the urban landscape to any extent? Yes, it does." Of course, the author fails to mention the collateral damage created by that landscaping job: poor people get evicted.

Another article in the Kolkata daily says that squatters, slum-lords and politicos form a "coalition of illegalities" and suggests that the squatters should not be given the right to vote.

And I thought India was a country noted for its tolerance.

Forced evictions in Lagos make thousands homeless - Amnesty International

Amnesty International denounces an eviction campaign in Lagos. Read it an weep:

Hundreds of Nigerians are still sleeping out in the open nearly nine months after bulldozers and armed police arrived in the Makoko community of Lagos, demolishing homes, churches, a mosque and a medical clinic. After three days of destruction, the community was obliterated, leaving about 3,000 residents -- many already destitute -- homeless.

"The poor of Lagos pay a heavy price for living on land that has increased in value: seeing their homes razed to the ground by government bulldozers," said Felix Morka, Executive Director of Social and Economic Rights Action Center, Lagos. "These evictions and destruction have got to stop."

Amnesty has called for a moratorium on evictions in Nigeria.

If current trends continue, greater Lagos will have 24 million inhabitants by the end of this decade, and it will become one of the two or three largest metropolitan areas in the world--truly Africa's leading megacity.

Temporary Reprieve for Rhino

Residents of Rhino, one of Geneva's oldest squats, win one in court: Edicom reports (in French) that a Cantonal (state) court vacated the eviction order for the building. If I understand the French correctly, the court ruled that state prosecutor and the police had no right to enforce a private eviction. The landlord can appeal the decision to federal court.

If anyone more versed in French than I am could clarify the ruling, I'd appreciate it.