UNITED NATIONS, May 28: A United Nations Human Rights expert has called upon the government of Pakistan to halt construction of the Lyari Expressway in Karachi, which is impacting residents of the areas who are fearful of evictions, and consider holding public hearings on the project to find an alternate solution.

Saying that evictions would create an unwarranted homeless problem, the special rapporteur on adequate housing, Miloon Kothari, said he had repeatedly voiced concern to the government about the manner in which evictions connected with the project had reportedly been undertaken.

The UN expert, who serves in an independent and unpaid capacity, called for “an immediate halt of all forced evictions; the concerned authorities to carry out open and genuine consultations, including public hearings, with the affected persons to ensure that evictions do not result in homelessness; and for the government to take immediate steps to comply with its human rights obligations and to promptly act on this appeal”.

According to reports the Karachi city government was planning to demolish and evict inhabitants of another 6,000 housing units in 20 different informal settlements throughout the city, including in Gulberg, North Nazimabad, Saddar, Jamshed town, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Liaquatabad, according to the special rapporteur’s report which was issued in Geneva and at UN Headquarters in New York.

“When completed, the Lyari Expressway project allegedly will have rendered an estimated 250,000 people homeless,” the report said.

Under international human rights law, evictions should only be carried out under exceptional circumstances, the report said.