The Tribune

IN the aftermath of the swoop by immigration on the Kool Acres shanty town on Monday, The Tribune went to speak to residents there.

Now, some will not care to hear what shanty town residents have to say – or will say that the occupants of the shanty towns should not be there in the first place so they don’t have the right to complain.

But what the residents had to say was disturbing to say the least, possibly outrageous depending on how many of the allegations are true.

Some of the residents said that people were beaten and slapped during the raid.

Another said that officers used hammers to break into homes, while there were even allegations of money being taken from homes.

Worst of all was the 12-year-old boy left with his two siblings to care for themselves because his mother was detained by immigration.

Now, the detail of this is alarming in itself – but consider the bigger picture in this situation.

Realistically, these are people who do not have a lot of money. The little boy said he and his siblings have no money to pay for a bus to get to school or to get lunch. They are looking after themselves as best they can, but they need adults to care for them, to provide for them.

Others in the community included one woman whose property burned down in August, and who said she has no money to build her own home – and even if she had, the government has served notices to say they are going to break these buildings down.

These are not people who have first month, last month and deposit to pay for a rented property elsewhere – so where are they going to go?

Chances are, it will be to another shanty location – either already established or newly springing up.

Meanwhile, the people on this land say that they have been paying rent – a man comes around and takes their $50 or $20 or whatever they have. When asked his name, they did not know but just called him the man who likes money.

The man who likes money has long known these properties are there. It is impossible to imagine he does not know that the properties are irregular. Yet here he is, taking money from people to stay on land unlawfully in the government’s eyes.

When there is a clampdown on the residents of these properties, where is the clampdown on the landowners making money out of them to go with it?

The situation with shanty home construction has gone on for far too long – it is a public safety issue, it is a health issue, it is a situation that needs to be tackled.

But is swooping in, slapping a bunch of notices on walls and taking a number of detainees away really going to solve the bigger problem?

These people will live somewhere. Perhaps some will drift into crime with no money and nowhere to live. Children left unguarded may find themselves exploited – and even just being in a situation with no future, no school and such uncertainty is not going to see them protected in any way. These children have done no harm.

Recently, we saw the Christian Council rally in protest over LGBT issues – we hope the same energy is shown in stepping in to protect children in desperate need, to show the Christian drive to care for others, no matter who they are or where they come from.

Simply slapping a bunch of notices on properties will not solve our immigration issues or our housing issues.

What comes next? Where do these people go? And what will become of the children?

These are the questions that need to be considered when we look to find solutions. For those trying to fathom where they will be a month from now, there are few real solutions in sight.