Habitat International 25 (2001) 49}67 Bastee eviction and housing rights: a case of Dhaka, Bangladesh Mohammed Mahbubur Rahman Department of Civil Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khud 123, Oman Abstract Nearly a third of Dhaka's population live in inhuman conditions in the slums and squatter settlements. Most of these people are economic migrants coming from the rural areas and contribute to a large informal sector. Yet their role in the economy and their rights are overlooked by the formal sector. Bangladesh National Housing Policy acknowledges the right of these people to proper housing, and outlines several strategies to cope with the problem. However, in reality, the slums and squatter population is constantly subject to eviction, while most provisions in public housing end up with the upper income groups. Slums and squatter settlements have existed in Dhaka for more than 200 years, but have become especially prominent since independence in 1971. In addition to regular small-scale evictions over the last three decades, there have been several massive incidents of squatter removal in the city, each time a!ecting thousands of poor people. A widespread negative attitude towards the poor and their lack of land-ownership inhibit the prospect of "nding a viable solution to this problem. In the areas of urban development and housing, many studies have been undertaken, policies have been framed, and programs have been announced, but hardly any of these have been implemented. Given this background, there is now a growing awareness in Bangladesh of the positive role of the urban poor and the informal sector. Some NGOs and other civil society members have gained limited success in establishing the housing rights of the urban poor. This paper reviews the ways in which the housing rights of the poor slum and squatter dwellers in the city of Dhaka have been violated through the evictions from their settlement. It describes the context, reviews events, highlights the major charters and declarations regarding housing rights, analyses various steps taken to remedy this situation, and explores and provides certain remedies that might lead to improvement. ( 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Housing; Squatting; Eviction; Poverty alleviation; Bangladesh 0197-3975/01/$ - see front matter ( 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 9 7 - 3 9 7 5 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 2 6 - 6