Pakistan Bulldozes Homes of Its Own Cleaners: 500,000 at Risk

Islamabad’s Capital Development Authority (CDA) has completed the first wave of demolitions of informal settlements across the city. Entire neighborhoods, like Muslim Colony in Bari Imam, which existed since the 1960s, are now leveled. Next is Allama Iqbal Colony, home to over 1,000 families, many of whom work as sanitation workers for the CDA. Residents received little or no notice. Those displaced have been offered no relocation and no compensation. Many have lived in these areas for decades. They built homes there because no affordable housing exists near their workplaces. Islamabad officially recognizes only a handful of these settlements as legal. Yet, they house an estimated 500,000 people. Most residents are one government notice away from eviction. This is not new. Human Rights Watch has documented how Pakistan’s colonial-era Land Acquisition Act allows authorities to evict people in poverty with minimal safeguards and no adequate compensation. Religious and ethnic minorities, along with the urban poor, are hit hardest. The current demolitions continue despite court orders to stop them. This includes a 2015 Supreme Court stay issued after the CDA bulldozed the I-11 settlement, displacing 20,000 people. International law recognizes the right to adequate housing. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights states that forced evictions are incompatible with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. They may only be used in exceptional cases, with strict legal safeguards, due process, and access to remedies. The government should immediately suspend demolitions until adequate resettlement is arranged. This would be consistent with the 2015 Supreme Court order and international standards. Pakistani authorities should not be unlawfully bulldozing the homes and livelihoods of their own citizens.