Community members from the Freddy Beras Goico sectors in Los Alcarrizos, La Ciénega and Los Guandules in Domingo Savio, La Mina in San Isidro, Nueva Jerusalem in Santo Domingo Este, Arroyo Lindo in the National District, Santa Lucía, Monte Adentro, Campo Lindo and Libertad located in the La Caleta municipal district in Boca Chica, today demanded an end to the evictions.
In the protest in front of the Naval Palace within the framework of Human Rights Day, urban communities, accompanied by the Housing and Habitat Commission of the Citizen Forumdemanding the cessation of forced evictions in national territory.
They said they have rights to decent housing, as established in article 59 of the Constitution of the Republic.
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The residents of the Freddy Beras Goico neighborhoods in Los Alcarrizos and La Mina in San Isidro were forcibly evicted from their homes in the months of March and April, respectively, of 2021. “In La Mina we did not receive any prior information that they were going to carry out an eviction, they only said that the State gave the land to the Air Force, and that for that reason we had to vacate them immediately and They expelled around 600 families that have been established in zone 5, 10, 15 and up to 20 years. A space where the State itself has built urban infrastructure, which implies recognition of the habitat,” declared Esther Soriano, spokesperson for the community.
Protesters said the government is responsible for the condition in which the evicted families are living. “The families of the Freddy Beras Goico neighborhood have lived for four years in an abandoned school, without access to basic services and in overcrowded conditions, without answers to the abuses and abuses committed,” reported Tomás Moya, representative of the sector.
They indicate that history repeats itself in Arroyo Lindo, where 250 families They were stripped of their homes on December 6, 2022.
“They arrived at 4 in the morning with cranes and soldiers to demolish our houses. They didn’t let us take out our belongings, they treated us violently and even hurt people. We had lived in the sector for 11 years and there were public services, so we were a community recognized by the State,” commented Beatriz Ureña, spokesperson for the sector.
Likewise, they reported that the inhabitants of the neighborhoods of La Ciénega and Los Guandules in the Nuevo Domingo Savio project have been victims of the same practice. “The idea has been sold to Dominican society that they are fairly compensating the residents, but that is not the case,” said Luis Reyes.
