A/HRC/56/47 39. The Special Rapporteur was informed during an online consultation that some communities had been forced to move before relocation began as they realized their territory was no longer safe. In Latin America, some Indigenous Peoples have struggled to secure authorization and financial assistance for relocation and eventually moved by their own means. Those evacuated reportedly lived in inadequate temporary housing for extended periods, lacking proper infrastructure and services while awaiting relocation.57 Still others who remain in their original places of residence face increasingly inadequate living conditions and worsening environmental degradation; for example, the El Bosque community in the Gulf of Mexico displaced following intense storms owing also to coastal erosion caused by tidal flooding and rapid sea level rise has been awaiting relocation since 2021. According to one submission received, affected individuals have irregular access to electricity and medication, are unable to preserve food, have salinized well water owing to rising sea levels, and unrepaired schools, hindering children’s access to education and adversely affecting their rights to housing, health, water, sanitation and food. Some community members have built makeshift shelters independently, depleting savings or going into debt. 58 Delays in relocation combined with displacement have caused psychological distress among some community members.59 1. Right to timely information, consultation and participation 40. Communities are not always consulted about relocation. Internally displaced communities in the Philippines who were to be relocated following Typhoon Rai in 2021 and Typhoon Nalgae in 2022 reported a lack of consultation on relocation, limited information justifying the relocation and insufficient knowledge of relocation plans. Inadequate community involvement in planning relocation processes in Sri Lanka have allegedly led to unrealistic expectations for communities displaced by a landslide and awaiting relocation in temporary shelters.60 While women in Narikoso village, Fiji were reportedly initially not consulted on housing design for the relocation process, in the relocation of Cogea village, specific consideration was later given to diverse community needs, ensuring privacy, safety and culturally appropriate rural kitchens and chimneys for women. 61 41. Consultation with and the participation of communities is also important in community relocation processes. The Indigenous Caicara Peoples of Enseada da Baleia in Sao Paulo state, Brazil identified a relocation area after intense wave events and coastal erosion rendered their land inhabitable. Reportedly, the Government initially proposed relocating them to an area less suitable for their artisan fishing livelihoods; with the assistance of the Public Defender’s Office, however, the authorities eventually allowed the community to relocate to the area it had selected. The community formed an association to mobilize members and oversee the relocation process. It established a protocol with consultation requirements for proposals affecting its members, to which the Government agreed.62 In a similar case, the Guna Indigenous People in Panama, facing threats from sea level rise and overcrowding on Gardi Sugdub Island, formed an internal neighbourhood commission to plan and organize their relocation.63 While local decisions included community consultation and participation, consultations with authorities were seen as primarily “information sharing” rather than genuinely inclusive.64 2. Right to life, liberty and security 42. The selection of the relocation site is key to safety and security in the relocation area. Families displaced by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013 were allegedly relocated 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 10 Government of Fiji, 10 April 2024, email correspondence. Submission by Moreno and Fry. Ibid. Submission by the Asia Pacific Academic Network on Disaster Displacement. Government of Fiji, 10 April 2024, email correspondence. See also submission by Yee, PiggottMcKellar and McMichael. See www.internal-displacement.org/good-practice/?id=21. Submission by Human Rights Watch. Ibid.