Squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

in the Republic of Vanuatu (an

island country An island country, island state, or island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...

in the

South Pacific Ocean South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

) is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. After independence in 1980,

informal settlements Informal housing or informal settlement can include any form of housing, shelter, or settlement (or lack thereof) which is illegal, falls outside of government control or regulation, or is not afforded protection by the state. As such, the info ...

developed in cities such as

Luganville Luganville is the second largest city in Vanuatu after the capital Port Vila; it is located on the island of Espiritu Santo and has a population of 18,062 as of the 2020 census. Those on Vanuatu's northern islands who regard Luganville as their ...

and the capital

Port Vila Port Vila ( ; ), or simply Vila (), is the capital of Vanuatu and its largest city. It is on the island of Efate, in Shefa Province. The population was 49,034 as of the 2020 census. In 2020, the population of Port Vila formed 16.3% of the ...

. Land in Vanuatu is either custom land owned by indigenous peoples or public land owned by the republic.

History

The Republic of Vanuatu is an

in the

which became independent in 1980. After 1980, internal migrants began to cluster in

around

, the capital city, which is on the island of

Efate Efate (), also known as Île Vate (), is an island in the Pacific Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in Vanuatu. Geography It is the most populous (approx. 66,000) island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanuatu's third larg ...

. People are forced to squat because of bad governance, the paucity of affordable housing and the lack of access to credit. The settlements do not have sanitation and are formed of shacks. Rental agreements are informal and not legally binding. Settlements in Port Vila include Blaksans (first occupied in the 1960s) and Freswin, where settlers came on invitation of the customary land owner. The second biggest city is

on the island of

Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region ...

, where people live in informal settlements called La Milice, Mango, Pepsi, Rowok, Sarakata and St Michel. Mango was first settled by Vietnamese migrants who constructed shelters out of scrap metal left behind by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. The Vietnamese were repatriated in the 1960s and it was then occupied by

Ni-Vanuatu Ni-Vanuatu (informally abbreviated Ni-Van) is a large group of closely related Melanesians, Melanesian ethnic groups native to the island country of Vanuatu. As such, ''ni-Vanuatu'' are a mixed ethnolinguistic group with a shared ethnogenesis tha ...

migrants.

Legal

Land in Vanuatu is either custom land owned by indigenous peoples or public land owned by the republic. Rural land is custom, urban land is public and peri-urban land can be either. The relevant laws are the 1980 constitution, the 1980 Land Reform Act, the 1983 Land Leases Act and the 2013 Custom Land Management Act. The principle of

adverse possession Adverse possession in common law, and the related civil law (legal system), civil law concept of usucaption (also ''acquisitive prescription'' or ''prescriptive acquisition''), are legal mechanisms under which a person who does not have title (p ...

does not exist.

Recent

In 2015, indigenous chiefs at Mele village near Port Vila asked squatters to go home. A chief in Lenakel, on the island of Tanna, said he believed most of the squatters had migrated from Tanna and asked them to harvest their crops and then return. The following year, fifty chiefs met at the Vaturisu Council of Chiefs of Efate and resolved that squatting should be better regulated.

References

{{Authority control Squatting in Vanuatu History of Vanuatu

History

Legal

Recent

See also

References