Housing security: US evictions surge amid pandemic despite federal ban
CAREY L BIRON, of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how, despite a ban, some American families are still being threatened with removal from their homes…
“Groundbreaking” US housing data hailed as new tool to target COVID-19 aid
Washington DC, USThomson Reuters Foundation About five million Americans lose their homes every year due to eviction or foreclosure, researchers said on Wednesday, urging policymakers to use their new county-specific data on housing loss to target coronavirus aid more effectively. The research by New America, a thinktank, stitches together county-level eviction and mortgage foreclosure […]
Millions in India face eviction amid coronavirus recovery push
Thomson Reuters Foundation Thousands of people were evicted across India during lockdowns to contain the coronavirus pandemic, with millions more at risk of being uprooted as authorities push infrastructure projects to spur economic growth, housing rights campaigners said. At least 20,000 people were evicted from their homes between 16th March and 31st July, despite court […]
Kenya’s forest communities face eviction from ancestral lands – even during pandemic
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation Forest-dwelling communities in Kenya are being forcibly evicted from their ancestral lands, as temperatures plummet and coronavirus cases soar, land rights campaigners said on Thursday. The Community Land Action Now, a network of more than 130 Indigenous community groups, said the evictions by the Kenya Forest Service had left hundreds of […]
More than 40,000 people forcefully evicted in East Africa during coronavirus crisis
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation More than 40,000 people across East Africa have been forcibly evicted from their homes since March, putting them at risk of contracting the new coronavirus, said charities on Wednesday, calling for a moratorium on all evictions during the pandemic. The Norwegian Refugee Council found that communities already displaced by violence, droughts […]
As US lockdowns lift, evictions loom for poorest city dwellers
New York City, USThomson Reuters Foundation A torrent of evictions looms as US coronavirus lockdowns are lifted, putting millions of people, often in black communities, at risk of losing their homes, housing researchers and activists warned. Many states have halted evictions since mid-March, as the novel coronavirus spread rapidly, but such provisions are scheduled to […]
Health workers, slum dwellers face housing bias as lockdowns lift
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation The easing of coronavirus lockdowns in cities around the world could lead to a rise in evictions of slum dwellers, housing experts warned on Wednesday, with healthcare workers and migrants also facing difficulties finding homes. More than six million people have been reported infected with the coronavirus globally, according to a […]
Hope “shattered” for Kenya’s forest people three years after landmark ruling
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation Kenya’s Indigenous Ogiek people are being harassed and threatened with eviction from the country’s largest forest, despite a landmark court ruling three years ago recognising their right over their ancestral land, activists said. The African Court on Human and People’s Rights – Africa’s highest human rights body – ruled on 26th May, 2017, […]
City demolitions expose Ethiopian families to coronavirus
Nairobi, Kenya/Addis Ababa, EthiopiaThomson Reuters Foundation Scores of Ethiopian families are at risk of contracting the new coronavirus after authorities demolished their makeshift houses and left them homeless, human rights groups said this week. Authorities in the capital began destroying the informal settlements near Bole International Airport in February. An aerial view of Addis Ababa, […]
“Exposing inequalities”: Evictions, power cuts heighten South Africa housing crisis amid lockdown
KIM HARRISBERG, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on warnings concerning the impact the COVID-19 lockdown is having on the nation’s poor…