ABACO, Bahamas — Abaco shantytown residents are calling on the United Nations (UN) to intervene and ask the government to stop its “senseless, heartless and illegal” demolition of shantytowns across The Bahamas, noting that up to 1,000 people will be displaced as a result of continued action, The Nassau Guardian reported on Monday, May 31.
A letter from “displaced victims of Hurricane Dorian on Abaco”, dated May 29, 2021, was reportedly given to members of a UN delegation during a tour of shantytowns on Abaco on Saturday.
The residents thanked the UN for visiting the area.
“We are extremely glad that you are able to witness firsthand the treatment and conditions we have suffered ever since being made homeless by the storm in September 2019,” they wrote.
“After losing everything, we tried to re-establish our homes and lives, many of us having lived there lawfully for decades. However, we were intentionally targeted and subjected to systematic persecution at the hands of The Bahamas authorities.
“Following the storm, in February 2020 all remaining structures in our communities, including those that had been spared extensive damage, were fenced in to block access by residents, then summarily and arbitrarily demolished and the remains, including all of our personal property, were disposed of against our will.
“Many lost all of their savings, belongings, travel and other documents as a result. Some have no way of proving their identity and may be rendered stateless. Since then, a number of families have sought to rebuild.
“However, the new homes – the only shelter our families, our children, could hope for under the circumstances on an island with a chronic housing shortage – have again been targeted for arbitrary demolition.” See complete article in The Nassau Gurdian at https://thenassauguardian.com/an-appeal-to-the-un/
