Crisis Looming as More Families Face Eviction in Guatemala
Camp for displaced Guatemalan families near the border in Candelaria, Campeche, Mexico JUNE 16, 2017 | Photo: Reuters
UN warns that the situation is in the Peten region is "extremely worrying".
The United Nations says the Guatemalan government must take "urgent" measures to start talks with the displaced families of Laguna Larga and other communities at risk of eviction, in order to find "adequate and alternative" solutions.
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Speaking at a news conference in Geneva, the spokesman for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, said the plight of some 100 families forced from their homes in the Peten region is "extremely worrying".
"These families, who currently live in the border area with the Mexican state of Campeche, fled before the anticipated evictions set for June 2" he added.
They escaped as Guatemalan police and soldiers moved in with a judge's order to remove them from the Maya Biosphere Reserve where they had lived for more than a decade.
Human rights groups, who visited Laguna Larga after the families left, said many homes and crops had been burned and soldiers camped in the area had slaughtered some of the livestock for food.
Guatemalan police officials said the eviction was successful and no one was hurt.
The area is under constant threat of encroachment by drug traffickers, cattle ranchers and extractive industries.
The families are now being housed at a makeshift encampment in the community of El Desengano in Campeche state on the Guatemalan- Mexican border.
They are demanding that their government allows them to return to their homes.
Mexican authorities, including members of the Migration National Institute, as well as a representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, have visited the camp.
They say the families have been living in "extremely precarious conditions" and are dependent on humanitarian assistance provided by the Guatemalan Government and some NGOs to provide them with access to food, water, medicines and hygiene items.
But the UN says the supplies are insufficient.
"We are very concerned that the evictions have been ordered without ensuring firm relocation or protection plans for affected families, as required by international human rights standards," Colville said.
This leaves families "quite literally with nowhere to go," he added.
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Ranchers, Drug Traffickers Threaten Guatemala Forest Reserve
"Displaced families must have adequate humanitarian assistance until appropriate relocation steps have been taken," the spokesman said.
The UN understands that there will be more evictions over the next few weeks in the Laguna del Tigre National Park, which may lead to "a situation of crisis and violence" he warned.
Colville said "evictions such as Laguna Larga are common in that country". However, such evictions "should only occur as a last resort, after exhausting all other alternatives and in line with adequate measures before, during and after the eviction, with special attention to women, children and indigenous people, among others ".
www.fotavgeia.blogspot.com
Camp for displaced Guatemalan families near the border in Candelaria, Campeche, Mexico JUNE 16, 2017 | Photo: Reuters
UN warns that the situation is in the Peten region is "extremely worrying".
The United Nations says the Guatemalan government must take "urgent" measures to start talks with the displaced families of Laguna Larga and other communities at risk of eviction, in order to find "adequate and alternative" solutions.
RELATED:
Hundreds of Campesinos Resist Eviction in Guatemala-Mexico Border Encampment
Speaking at a news conference in Geneva, the spokesman for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, said the plight of some 100 families forced from their homes in the Peten region is "extremely worrying".
"These families, who currently live in the border area with the Mexican state of Campeche, fled before the anticipated evictions set for June 2" he added.
They escaped as Guatemalan police and soldiers moved in with a judge's order to remove them from the Maya Biosphere Reserve where they had lived for more than a decade.
Human rights groups, who visited Laguna Larga after the families left, said many homes and crops had been burned and soldiers camped in the area had slaughtered some of the livestock for food.
Guatemalan police officials said the eviction was successful and no one was hurt.
The area is under constant threat of encroachment by drug traffickers, cattle ranchers and extractive industries.
The families are now being housed at a makeshift encampment in the community of El Desengano in Campeche state on the Guatemalan- Mexican border.
They are demanding that their government allows them to return to their homes.
Mexican authorities, including members of the Migration National Institute, as well as a representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, have visited the camp.
They say the families have been living in "extremely precarious conditions" and are dependent on humanitarian assistance provided by the Guatemalan Government and some NGOs to provide them with access to food, water, medicines and hygiene items.
But the UN says the supplies are insufficient.
"We are very concerned that the evictions have been ordered without ensuring firm relocation or protection plans for affected families, as required by international human rights standards," Colville said.
This leaves families "quite literally with nowhere to go," he added.
RELATED:
Ranchers, Drug Traffickers Threaten Guatemala Forest Reserve
"Displaced families must have adequate humanitarian assistance until appropriate relocation steps have been taken," the spokesman said.
The UN understands that there will be more evictions over the next few weeks in the Laguna del Tigre National Park, which may lead to "a situation of crisis and violence" he warned.
Colville said "evictions such as Laguna Larga are common in that country". However, such evictions "should only occur as a last resort, after exhausting all other alternatives and in line with adequate measures before, during and after the eviction, with special attention to women, children and indigenous people, among others ".
www.fotavgeia.blogspot.com
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