Right to Adequate Housing of the Slum Dwellers in Chittagong: A Paradox between Dream and Reality

M. Jashim Ali Chowdhury

Lecturer, Department of Law, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh

Muntasir Ahmed

Senior Judicial Magistrate, Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court, Chittagong, Bangladesh

Published in the Metropolitan University Journal Vol 3 No 1 (2009), pp 187-199

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Abstract

Housing as a right has already passed the test of opinio juris, the ambition of the new century being this right to be seen fully implemented in practice. Housing is both a human right and a vital means of promoting peace and respect for human rights – ‘Home of human rights’ in fact. This two track importance make the right to housing something more than a ‘mere right’. In spite of its recognition in ‘Fundamental Principle of State Policy’, many a people are now inclined to call it the ‘Fundamental Right’ to Housing. This paper aims to provide some reflections on the glaring reality prevailing in Bangladesh in this regard. Extensive field work in Chittagong Metropolitan Area as well as academic inroad into the existing literature on housing rights finds out that the dream of ‘Housing for All’ is not so lofty a dream as it is usually professed in the policy making level. Recommendations follow the arguments addressing the issue on short, mid and long-term basis.

1. Introduction

From human rights perspective housing right is an essential fundamental right because insecure and inadequate shelter threatens human dignity itself. The right to human dignity, in its essential structure, constitutes a bundle of rights. These rights encompass the human right to living conditions that enable existence in which a person can exercise his or her liberty as a human being.

In Bangladesh we have got a significant environment covering both hopes and depressions in this respect. Bangladesh is a low-income (per capita GDP around US$ 500) and mainly agrarian country. Nearly 80% people live in the rural areas. An overwhelming percent of the population (around 65-70%) live in abject poverty. Agricultural Landlessness is high. Around 55 to 65% of the rural household are functionally landless owning less than 0.50 acre of land. The income distribution is unequal—the top 5% own 46% of the total income and the lowest 5% owns only 7% of the total income (Alam Mahbubul, 136). The rich and middle class society in Bangladesh somehow manages the necessities of habitation but the life style of the average people is miserable. The slum dwellers are the most unfortunate part of the citizens of Bangladesh. There are about 500 slums in 30 cities all over Bangladesh.

Inhabitants of the slum are the misfortunes of the society - homeless and provision less, may be due to river erosion, flood, draught, natural calamity etc. They became floating rural population having no profession, no provision for food, shelter and being poverty stricken, migrated to the urban area in quest of those necessities for their living on the earth for breathing its fresh air (Billah and Sarker, 80).

People experiencing homelessness are subject or susceptible to a range of person,

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the right to privacy, the right to vote, the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the right to education, and perhaps most importantly, their right to life (McRae and Nicholson, 3). Again it is the poor, those living in shanty dwellings and squatter settlements who contribute to the national economy in general and to the urban economy in particular. They provide cheap transport, fruits, vegetables and construction labour. The two million or so garment factory workers, most of who live in squatter and slum settlements, bring in millions of much needed foreign exchange.

Above this foggy reality we have so many sunny promises. Bangladesh had its birth through ‘a glorious struggle for national independence aimed at economic and social justice’. The Preamble of the Bangladesh Constitution pledges to ‘realize a socialist society free from exploitation and ensuring justice political, economic and social for all citizens.’ But Bangladesh walked through the traditional way of compartmentalization of Civil Political and Economic Social rights (ESC rights hereinafter). The dichotomy between civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural right has been maintained by making the former enforceable by court and the latter non-enforceable. Part III of the Constitution embodies the Fundamental Rights giving the citizens a right to move the High Court Division to redress any infringement of those rights. Part II of the Constitution enumerates the Fundamental Principles of State Policy, which mainly deals with ESC rights. These are constitutional mandate which oblige the State to implement these mandates (Hossain, Sara and Ors, 45).

This glittering distinction between the promise and reality instigated us to undertake a field study on the distressed slum dwellers of Chittagong. How lofty is the dream of a house for these ill-fated people? Our efforts will circle round this question. This paper is the result of qualitative research conducted from August to October 2009 and is based on primary and secondary data collection. Literature has been identified through ‘snowballing’ techniques (following one link that leads to another) and use of the internet as much as through systematic searches of databases. In addition a qualitative case-study approach is used in this research. Both primary and secondary sources are used to address the issues outlined above. Fieldwork was carried out for one week in Chittagong in September 2009. Twenty five to thirty people were interviewed in each of the four slums. Because of the nature of the research questions, the analysis is primarily qualitative and it tells a story from an informed perspective.

2. The Concept of Adequate Housing

Adequate housing encompasses more than just the four walls of a room and a roof over one’s head. Housing is essential for normal healthy living. It fulfils deep seated psychological needs for privacy and personal space, physical needs for security and protection from inclement weather, and social needs for basic gathering points where important relationship are forged and nurtured (Morka Felix, 1). In international agreements on human rights and fundamental rights, the right to housing is seen in wider perspective: as the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity. 

Adequate housing is defined in the Global Strategy to Shelter for the year 2000

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(G.A. res. 48/178) as meaning ‘adequate privacy, adequate space, adequate security, adequate lighting and ventilation with basic infrastructures and suitable location with regard to work and basic facilities-all at a reasonable and affordable cost.’ This entails that the right to housing must be secured for everyone, regardless of financial resources, property, gender, ethnicity, or national or social origin (Fredriksson and Pätäri, 45-48).

3. The legal status of housing rights

Although still relatively unknown to most people in developing countries, many conventions, covenants, charters, declarations, resolutions and judicial decisions comprising the normative foundations of human rights law contain abundant sources of the right to adequate housing.

With the adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) 1948, the right to adequate housing has emerged as an issue of universal concern. Many international legal experts now believe the UDHR to be part of customary international law, and thus despite of its being a declaration; it is binding on all countries. The Declaration in Article 25 affirms in clear terms that ‘every one has a right to a standard living, adequate for the health and well being of himself and his family including food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary social service and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.’

The International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is ratified by more than 108 states. This text contains perhaps the most significant foundation of the right to housing. Article 2 of the covenant declares that the state parties to the Covenant have recognized the rights of everyone to an adequate standard of living and to the continuous improvement of living condition.  The state parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right.

The United Nations Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has elaborated on the rights contained in the International Covenant in documents known as General Comments. In general, the content of the general comments reflects a movement toward an interpretation of the right to housing with a broader and deeper reach (General Comments 4, 5, 6, 7, 14 and 15). Article 14(2)(h) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 1979 (CEDAW) obligates the State parties to ensure for women adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing, sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport and communications. Apart from these there is a wide range of international conventions, resolutions, regional instruments and domestic constitutions that enshrine the right to adequate housing.

Additional housing rights norms ‘equality of treatment as regards housing for refugees’ and ‘the rights of migrant workers to equality of treatment in relation to access to housing, including social housing schemes and protection against exploitation in respect of rents’ are protected by international conventions like Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) (Article 21, Article 43) and International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and

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Members of Their Families (GA Res 45/158, Annex, 45 UNGAOR Suppl No. 49A) etc.

Several articles of the United Nations Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (1994) as agreed upon by members of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations, at its Eleventh Session, 30 July 1993 directly enshrine housing rights concerns. (Articles 22, 23 and 31)

Article 14 (2) (h) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 1979 (CEDAW) states:

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women …shall ensure to such women the right … (h) to enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing, sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport and communications.

Apart from these there is a wide range of international conventions, resolutions, regional instruments and domestic constitutions that enshrine the right to adequate housing. The work of the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing also provides a useful resource.

This concise survey of the legal foundations of housing rights within international, regional and domestic legal systems plainly reveals the widespread global support for this right. Though few rights are infringed as frequently or to the degree as housing rights experience, the principle that such a legally binding right exists is an indisputable fact.

3.1. Status of Housing Rights in Bangladesh

The status of right to housing in Bangladesh may be traced out from her international treaty obligation, constitutional provisions and judicial decisions. As a party to ICCPR, ICESCR and CEDAW the principle of pacta sunt servanda imposes a legal obligation on Bangladesh to perform her treaty obligations in good faith. This means that Bangladesh must adjust her domestic legal structure to comply with the international standards to which she committed herself.

Unfortunately, the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the surpema lex, imposes a half hearted burden of protecting housing rights. Provision regarding Housing rights is placed in Article 15(a) under the Fundamental Principles of State Policy, which is not at least directly enforceable by court. But the due process mandate of the Constitution in Article 31 has a direct implication on the right to adequate housing. Any sort of misbehaviour, disdain, contempt, disrespect or ill treatment towards the homeless and any disregard of the public opinion is contrary to Article 21(2) of the Constitution which states that ‘every person in the service of the Republic has a duty to strive at all times to serve the people.’ Article 27 with its equality arms tends to protect the vulnerable groups by saying that ‘all citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of the law.’ The National Housing Policy of 1993 has accepted the principle of ‘No forced eviction’. Paragraphs 5.7.1 and 5.7.2 of the Policy promises in situ upgrading, slum renovation and progressive housing developments in lieu of forcible relocation or displacement of slum dwellers (COHRE and ACHR, 28 -29)

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The Supreme Court also has played a vital role in protecting the rights of slum dwellers. In a number of precious decisions the High Court Division of the Supreme Court has now established that slum eviction cannot be carried out without prior written notice as mandatory requirement by the law. It was done according to Section 5 of the Governments Land and Buildings (Recovery of Position) Ordinance, 1970. In the Modhumala v. Housing and Building Research Institute the High Court Division defended the right of the slum dwellers to a livelihood through lawful professions. The Court agreed to the concerns of the slum dwellers that if they lose their address they will lose their job or shelter, that means they will lose their source of earning and that affects their right to life guaranteed by Article 32 of the Constitution (Para 12). The court made it profusely clear that if people need to be moved it had to be done in phases according to the financial means of government so as to provide rehabilitation schemes for the dwellers (Para 14). In Ain O Shalish Kendra and others v. Government of Bangladesh the High Court Division emphasized on the social justice mandate of the liberation war to press the dreams of the millions of Bangalis that social Justice shall be established and the people shall be provided with the bare minimum necessities of life. In Kalam and others v Bangladesh and others the court considered the slum more to be a place of earning livelihood than to be a place of living. In Bangladesh Society for Enforcement of Human Rights (BSEHR) v Government of Bangladesh the means of earning livelihood was extended even to the profession of sex workers. The attempts of High Court sometimes go in vain, but usually it shakes the authority to stop the illegal eviction.

4. The Paradox between Dream and Reality: A Survey over Slum Dwellers of Chittagong

Chittagong, with an area of 5282.98 sq km, is surrounded by Feni and Tripura (Indian state) on the north, Cox’s Bazar district on the south, Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachari districts on the east and Noakali district and the Bay of Bengal on the west. Chittagong is quite different from other districts for its unique natural beauty characterized by hills, rivers, sea, forests and valleys. Chittagong is the second largest city and major Port city of Bangladesh and also a Healthy City under the direct auspices of World Health Organisation. The Chittagong Metropolitan Area consists of twelve thanas, 68 wards and 236 mahallas (local unit). It has an area of 209.66 sq km. The town has a population of 3202710 with 54.36% male and 45.64% female having the population density of 15276 per sq km. Chittagong is basically commerce oriented while the rest of the Country is mainly agro-based. Commerce and service sector contribute upto 52% of Chittagong economy. Wage labourer and agricultural labourer account for another 16%. Among the peasants 25% are landless, 27% small land owners, 15% intermediate, 3% rich and 30% marginal (BPS, 2000). Surprisingly our study reveals that there are almost no Chittagonian living in slums. Slum dwelling people have migrated from other parts of the country mainly North Bengal. Our field study covered five slums. These include – Cosmopolitan, Nalapara, Dewan Hat and Amin Jute Mills. While meeting people we emphasised on receiving information about their living conditions, basic infrastructural facilities

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available to them, income source, child’s education, vaccination and health awareness, food intake, sanitation and social environment.

4.1 Cosmopolitan Slum

It is located in Cosmopolitan Road near Nasirabad Boot Hill, one of the posh residential areas in Chittagong as a living witness to the glaring disparity and social exclusion prevailing in Bangladesh. It is actually a privately settled colony. The basic necessaries of life are scarcely available here. The residents use water from road supply of WASA. Electricity is available but no gas facility. Sanitation is insufficient. Drainage is not good. Most importantly they are vulnerable to land slide from the Boot Hill. Very often there are incidents of land slides and loss of life and property. The August 2007 rainfall in Chittagong caused devastating landslide here.

It took away around ten lives and injured many others. Dwellers are mainly CNG drivers and garments workers. Most of the houses are semi pacca (tin shed building). Room size is eight to ten square feet on average. On average four to five people live in a single room. Privacy and conjugal secrecy is something unknown. Health service, neither public nor NGO based. They didn’t ever see a health worker coming to their Bosti. There is no graveyard within three miles of the slum. The dead body has to be buried at Chatannogoli Kabarsthan, which is four kilometres away from this area and which is a government owned graveyard and generally used to burry anonymous dead bodies. Though there are at least three Primary Schools, two High Schools and two Colleges which include Omar Gani MES College and Nasirabad Women’s College those are meant only for the well-offs and not for them. Socio economic exclusion has made them mere silent spectators of other’s progress and

advancement. Most interestingly they are the neighbours of the renowned three times elected City Mayor! In the tiny colony of Alhaj Fakir Badiul Alam Ajmiri, a 70 years old khadem of a shrine, 16 families were living in a very pathetic situation with only four toilets and no water, electricity and gas supply. Coal, wood or kerosene the ancient cooking utilities still serve their purpose.

4.2 Nalapara Slum

Nalapara is the largest slum in Chittagong. Almost 8000 people live in this slum. It is behind Chittagong Railway Station. The true owner of this land is Bangladesh  Railway but local godfather illegally occupied this to let it out to the homeless people. The slum is considered as a dreadful crime zone. Drug business and prostitution is the main source of livelihood for some drug dealers and floating sex workers. Apart from them bulk of the inhabitants are rickshaw pullers, housemaids, day labourer, station loader, etc. Though not guilty very often they have to face the police harassments while the criminals remain in safe-haven under the shelter of political and business elites. Though the slum is situated almost at the heart of the city, they live in dark. Inhabitants live in tin, plastic and bamboo made huts. They use illegal electricity supply. Sometimes PDB (Power Distribution Board) disconnects the supply. Then they have to depend on firewood until the illegal connection is taken again. There are no gas and water supply. Some NGOs have limited reach there. Being situated in the heart of the city, there is no shortage of

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schools. Shortage is in the capability of these poor people. We talked to one Dolly Begum (25) who settled there two years ago after the mighty Jamuna took away all her happiness by flood erosion. Now she works in a garments factory. Her husband pulls rickshaw. They have three children. Two of them study in the nearest Nalapara Primary School. Dolly does not dream a colourful life. What she expects is the guarantee of a bare minimum existence with basic amenities of life. She is not sure whether she will get it very soon.

4.3 Amin Jute Mill Slum

It is situated at Hamjerbag, near Amin Jute Mills with around 2500 inhabitants. Basically the terminated workers of Amin Jute Mills live here. Side by side there are some rickshaw pullers, day labourers and CNG Taxi drivers. The literacy rate of this slum is quiet good. Almost every child goes to school. This is because there is a government primary school within the area of Amin Jute Mills Ltd. But the health services are worse as the health workers hardly visit this slum. Some NGOs provide them limited vaccination or other health services. There is no play ground for the children. Children use to play over the rail line and sometimes accidents occur. With no gas connection, no sanitation facility, no grave yard and only one dustbin which again is cleaned up rarely, the life here is a misery. Here we talked to Abdul Ahad (35). Abdul Ahad was a labourer of Amin Jute Mill. In 2005 Amin Jute Mills Authority terminated 2000 workers including Abdul Ahad without giving them

sufficient notice and compensation. To feed his four children, now he works as a day

laborer and his wife as a garments worker. They live in a small room for which they

count Tk 1500 per month. With the joint monthly income of Tk 6000, their agony

simply lacks words to explain.

4.4 Dewanhat Slum

This is situated under the Dewanhat Over Bridge. This is not a slum in its usual sense. Neither the huts nor the inhabitants are permanent. Some huts are made with plastic tents. Beggars, vagabonds, floating sex workers use it like a residential hotel with daily rent which ranges between Tk 20 to 30. Rents are paid to the local mastans. There is no question of gas, electricity and water supply. There is no toilet. The slum dwellers use the footpath and railway line as open toilet. River erosion affected people from North Bengal (Kurigram, Shirajgonj, Bogra district) take refuge here.

4.5. The Overall Situation

The City Corporation community services always consider the poor and low income group people as a secondary or tertiary issue. Those living in these settlements have migrated to the city for a variety of reasons, including lack of economic opportunities in the rural areas and natural disasters such as floods and cyclones, failure to repay NGO loan, deprivation from hereditary rights, search of work, oppressed or deceived by evil people or escaped convict, loss or death of guardian, urge of livelihood (extreme poverty), loss of income sources, homelessness, etc. In the absence of government sponsored schemes to settle these

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migrants, they have developed innovative processes that enable them to survive. They live in the slum by making a tent with plastic or bamboo fence that cannot protect them from rain and cold. The living conditions of these poor families have deteriorated further. By and large, the slum dwellers don’t have any civic facilities including water, electricity, gas, sewerage etc. The inhabitants of these settlements are vendors, drivers of cycle and motor rickshaws, factory workers, garment factory workers, daily wage labourers, domestic servants, etc. They make a major contribution to the economy and welfare of the country in general and the city in particular. 87% of the household in slum are dependant on the manual labour as the main source of income. A household survey conducted in 1996 by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics revealed that measles immunization and Vitamin A coverage is substantially lower in the slums of Chittagong (26%). Similarly, antenatal care coverage is substantially lower in the slum areas (18%) compared to the non-slum areas (55%).

However, we found almost 96% child aged 12 -14 years to receive Vitamin A Capsule. Vitamin A and Polio Vaccination Campaign covers around 98% of the total slum dwelling people. What is alarming is that 55% children aged 2-5 years are underweight. Household consumption of non-cereal food is only 8%. Non cereal food for the purpose of our study means orange, mango or green vegetable. Only 33% households afford fish regularly. Slum settlements are often found on land which is in most cases unsuitable for proper housing. About 52.7% and 37.0% slums are poorly or moderately drained, respectively, while only 10.3% are well drained. The major source of drinking water in slum areas is the municipal tap and tube wells. One tap is shared by 11 to 20 families. We have found the same picture in case of using tube wells. And the tap and tube well are not available in all cases. Only 16% households had closed latrine. Latrines linked to sewers and septic tank and water sealed latrines are considered safe from a hygienic stand point. Only 28.8% of slum dwellers have access to one of these three types of latrines. Pit latrines, a variety widely regarded as unsafe, and the same types are common in slum areas. In almost all slums latrines are usually shared by two or more households. In 13.4% of slums, one latrine was shared by 11 or more families. Basic facilities like electricity and water supply is available to some extent. The slum dwellers pay for the electricity and water to the local mastans and godfathers and not to the Government. Cooking by gas is really a dream for the slum dwellers in most cases. Wholesale evictions of slums on government land are a common event. Of around 5000 slum dwellers of these five slums, 6.5% experienced one or more evictions in their present location. The majority of slums did not have any fixed place for garbage bins. Graveyard problem is inconceivable. They even don’t know whether they have any graveyard or not. Interestingly the world famous Micro credit loan emanating from Chittagong under the valiant leadership of Novel Lauriat Dr. Mohammad Yunus does not reach these people, probably because the Micro credit NGOs basically work in rural areas not in urban slum.

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5. Recommendations

Fulfilment of a dream comprises both the question of approach and action. The importance of taking the right approach was emphasised in Modhumala by Shah Abu Naim Muhammad Mominur Rahman J., ‘The efforts for implementation appears to be not upto mark, may be because the concerned functionaries do not realise the problem in the manner they should do’ (Para 12). It is the question of approach that determines the way that people including courts and policymakers, think, talk, debate, and make decisions about housing. And then it is the action that brings the dreams in the lofty sky to the ground (AKM Ahsan Ullah et el, 1999).

5.1 The Question of Approach

There is an immediate need of making a deviation from the traditional need based approach. Housing must be seen as a human right distinct from a mere charity. It is often jokingly said that International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) list of ‘recommendations’ is virtually identical to Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ (CESCR) list of ‘concerns’. Right based approach will deter the adoption of wholly market based approach in addressing housing rights concerns. A discriminatory approach wherein the labour of the poor is acceptable but their residence in the city is not must be eliminated.

Along with the human rights approach the ‘Small ‘c’ citizenship’ approach may also be adopted. It is used as a counter part of the ‘big C’ Citizenship. Big C citizenship denotes a legal status by dint of which citizens are guaranteed very few rights, most of which are constitutional, and therefore they all are capable of being overridden. The ‘small c’ citizenship approach as proposed by T H Marshall looks upon citizenship as ‘a status bestowed on those who are full members of a community’. Marshall understood citizenship as a social status that furnishes its members with substantive individual entitlements. For Marshall, citizenship rights serve to equalize individuals with regard to status, thereby enabling citizens to participate in the community, and establishing a sense of common possession of and loyalty to the community (Walsh and Klease, Homelessness and Citizenship). Ensuring right to adequate housing is in fact including the excluded into the main stream of the community life.

5.2 Concrete Things to Be Done

Government must not evict the slum dwellers without prior notice. Eviction must take place as a last resort only on compelling situations and that also after arranging the alternative habitat for the to-be-evicted people. The parties benefiting from the development causing the relocation must pay the full costs of the relocation process, including the socio-economic rehabilitation of those affected to at least their former level.

Analysis of legislation relating to housing and homelessness should be done to ensure consistency with international human rights standards. This should include laws relating to tenancy, to security of tenure and housing affordability and to forced eviction.

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The level of expenditure required to implement the right to adequate housing should be identified, with long-term commitments from all levels of government and other possible sources of funds. Direct allocation of unutilized or underutilized khas lands for the low-income families must be started at the first opportunity.

The right to housing may be looked upon as the right to aid for housing, which is an appeal to the governments to adopt programs that would help the needy households so that a minimum decent housing becomes affordable for them.

The concept of slum upgrading needs special attention. Slum upgrading scheme shall comprise the following priorities:

Legalization of tenure status for sites and houses, including regularization of rental agreements to ensure improved tenure.

– Provision or improvement of technical services e.g., water, waste and waste

– water management, sanitation, electricity, road pavement, street lighting, etc.

– Provision or improvement of social infrastructure such as schools, clinics,

– community centres, playgrounds, green areas, etc.

– Physical improvement of the built environment, including rehabilitation or improvement of existing housing stock.

– Construction of new housing units where necessary. Encourage existing micro finance institutions to finance Low Income Group (LIG) housing.

- Collaboration with private sector developers to build low cost housing should be another priority.

– Design of urban development plans including, for example, the rearrangement of sites and street patterns according to infrastructure needs, although working within existing settlement patterns is generally less disruptive to community networks. This measure might entail resettlement of some residents.

– Changes in regulatory framework to better suit the needs and opportunities available to the poor, as far as possible keeping to existing settlement patterns.

– Densification measures e.g., multiple-story houses for example in order to protect fertile land from being occupied for settlement.

6. Concluding Remarks:

The above discussion confirms our inevitable assertion that implementation of Right to Housing is attributable more to the lack of attention than to the lack of resources. Poor realisation of the Right to Housing of these misfortunate slum dwellers only explains the wide spread and deep rooted fatalism treating economic prosperity as a heavenly ‘gift’ and poverty a ‘curse’. The state policies, plans, measures - either legislative or administrative are indirectly but persuasively influenced by ‘fatalism’ and run counter to ‘equality’ to maintain status quo in social

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settings (Sangroula, 62). This may be a result of the ‘political culture of contentment’ based on the conviction that spending on the deprived is in any case both ineffective and undeserved, since the deprived are largely responsible for their own condition’ (Beetham, 32). When the slum dwellers demand a place to live, policy makers want them to prove that they have no weak points. For them, burden of proof is always reverse (Pettiti and Meyer-Bisch, 46).

To allow this would be a continuing offence of violating the Constitution for which our heroic people dedicated themselves to, and our brave martyrs sacrificed their lives in the war for national independence. Such consistent violation would disqualify us as an independent and self-serving nation, since the protection of human rights is the final end of government and the degree to which human rights are safeguarded is the final test by which any polity should be judged.

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AKM Ahsan Ullah, Abdar Rahman and Munira Morshed, Poverty and Migration Slums of Dhaka City: The Realities, Association for Rural Development and Studies (ARDS), Dhaka, 1999

Beetham David., ‘Democracy and Human Rights: Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural’ in Rahman, Dr. Mizanur (ed) Human Rights And Empowerment, ELCOP, 2002

Billah, S.M. Masum and Sarker, Nittyanando., ‘Non-state Actors being the Prism. Need for Judicial Activism in Bangladesh to Nurture Human Rights’ in Rahman Dr. Mizanur (ed), Human Rights and Non-state Actors ELCOP, 2004.

BPS, Bangladesh Population Survey 2000.

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Fredriksson, Peter and Pätäri, Juho (eds), Right to Housing in Europe – Need for a Comprehensive Strategy, (Published on the occasion of HOUSING RIGHTS IN EUROPE CONFERENCE Helsinki 18 – 19 September 2006. 

Hossain, Sara and Ors (eds), Public Interest Litigation In South Asia: Rights In Search of Remedies, BLAST, Dhaka, 1994.

McRae, Rowan and Nicholson, Dan, ‘No Place like Home: Homelessness in Australia and the Right to Adequate Housing’, [2003] Australian Journal of Human Rights 3. Available at: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AJHR/2003/3.html (Accessed on 22 April, 2010).

Morka, Felix, The Right to Adequate Housing (Module 13), in Circle of Rights: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights activism: A training resource, (Institute of International Education. International Human Rights Internship Program, United States of America, 2000). See: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/IHRIP/circle/modules/module13.htm (Accessed on 20 December 2009)

Pettiti, Louis - Edmond and Meyer- Bisch, Patrice, ‘Human Rights and Extreme Poverty’ in Rahman, Dr. Mizanur (ed) Human Rights And Empowerment, ELCOP, 2002.

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Walsh, Tamara and Klease, Carla, ‘Down and Out? Homelessness and Citizenship,’ [2003] Australian Journal of Human Rights 5, Available online: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AJHR/2003/5.html (Accessed on 20 March 2010)

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List of Cases

Ain O Shalish Kendra and others v. Government of Bangladesh 1999 BLD 488

BSEHR v Government of Bangladesh, 53 DLR (HCD) (2001) 1

Kalam and others v Bangladesh and others 21 BLD (HCD) (2001) 446

Modhumala v. Housing and Building research Institute 53 DLR (HCD) 540