Lisbon Chamber finds “alternative” for family reported by Habita! to the UN – Observer
The Lisbon Chamber said this Tuesday that it had found “an alternative housing” for the family in relation to which the United Nations (UN) requested the suspension of the vacancy of a house, following a complaint from Habita!.
The case was reported by the association for the right to housing on December 20 last year: a family with “very low income”, consisting of a mother and a minor daughter, had been “evicted during a pandemic” of Covid-19.
Given the “absence of housing alternatives and having made several applications and requests for help from social services, he ended up occupy a house in the municipal public parkwho found himself waiting”, reported Habita!, which, on November 28, filed a complaint against the Portuguese State, with the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the United Nations, not sense of suspending the vacancydecided by the municipality of the capital.
In a response dated December 16, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights responded favorably to Habita’s request!in order to import a precautionary measure, and asked the Portuguese State for “measures to avoid possible irreparable damage while the process is being considered”, specifically “the suspension of the eviction”.
In clarification sent this Tuesday to Lusa, the Lisbon City Council informs that “it presented a representative of the family, at the end of 2022, an application for the Supported Lease Program” and that, in this candidacy sequence, “he was assigned a house, in the parish of Santa Clara”.
The municipality also adds that the housing “is being renovated”, it is anticipated “that the works will be completed during the month of March”.
The Lisbon City Council’s Supported Leasing Program is aimed at families with low resources and in a situation of housing and socioeconomic deprivation.
An habit! has been denouncing evictions decided by the Lisbon City Council and by the Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation “with a total violation of fundamental rights, without any housing alternative, without a case-by-case analysis of the situation of each family and their conditions and without monitoring the children who are part of these families”.