Aso Jabbar, Rep. Abroad
November 2004
No for warning notices, no for eviction of homeless families
A decent accommodation for homeless families is a human right
To the masses in Basra
To freedom loving people and defenders of human rights and dignity.
Nobody including the government officials deny the fact that the deposited Saddam’s regime had fought poor and deprived families and turned their sons to fuel for his aimless wars and among many other things deprived them of accommodation. Therefore thousands of the most disadvantaged citizens were left without accommodation. After the fall of the Baath regime and for many reasons specially mass unemployment, sharp increase in the rate of rent and the return of many citizens who left Iraq escaping prosecution by former regime thousands of families have resided in the ruined governmental buildings, military camps and offices of security forces which lacks the minimum standards of a decent accommodation.
The Association to Defend Homeless Families, from the day it was founded on October 30, 2003 has led the protests and demonstrations of these families. It opposes evicting these families before providing decent alternative accommodations for them. The CDHF has held many meetings with occupation authority and Iraqi officials to secure the right of these families to be provided with decent accommodations, as they are victims of the former regime. The CDHF also condemned and organized massive demonstrations against insults by the occupation forces against these homeless families and forced these forces to apologize for their aggression.
We, along with these homeless families expected that after the so-called authority handover to the Iraqis, this issue would be studied and appropriate solution provided over a certain timetable, which fits with the capabilities of the state, the size of this problem and fairness of the demand. However unfortunately this problem is now in the bottom of the list of priorities of the Iraqi authorities. Many notices have been so far issued asking the homeless families to evict these building. Moreover the authorities have issued arrest warrants against homeless families living in governmental buildings and even the buildings used previously by the dismantled Baath party. The masked police have many times terrified these families. Is this acceptable? This is a question directed to the officials in this city.
We have been assured by the most senior decision making officials in this city that these families would not be harassed before alternative accommodations are provided for them. What is going on now is in sharp contradiction with the reassurance by those who claim they defend the dignity of poor people.
Our association is saddened by this behavior and calls on the officials in this city to stop any measure, which can harm these families. Sending them onto streets will make the problem worse and will undermine the stability and security in the city. Those who like troubled water and who cannot tolerate any change will use this problem to cause more damage against our people.
Feeling responsibility toward these families our association calls on decision makers in this city to find a humane and proper solution to this problem before the eviction of the homeless families and sending them onto streets. As the representatives of these families, we announce or readiness to discuss all proposals, which aim at solving this problem, and to help solve it.
We also unequivocally announce that our association reserves the right to organize demonstration and peaceful sit-ins to protest what is happening now and in case if any of these families is evicted from its current place of living.
Association to Defend Homeless Families-Basra
October 18 , 2004
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