The hard work and dedication of Amnesty International activists has paid off for hundreds of homeless families in Brazil.

The families were evicted from a giant abandoned warehouse, called the Prestes Maia building in Sao Paulo. Normally this would have been a complete disaster for the residents, however thanks to pressure from Amnesty International and local NGO's, the municipal government signed an agreement with them which provided some with homes and others with rent assistance while homes were found.

Community leader Jomarina thanked Amnesty International on behalf of the Prestes Maia families. "We were not expecting this victory, but Amnesty's involvement suddenly gave the campaign visibility."

"I want to thank you today for my house," said another woman. "I lived in a shack without a bathroom with my disabled child. I was a street girl, treated like rubbish, I lost my mother to violence, I was alone. Housing helped not just me, but my child."

"The homeless are thrown into a hole without any way out; they are exposed to police violence, sexual abuse," said Manoel Del Rio, a lawyer working with the MSTC. "Housing is the most complete social project. We see them when they arrive and we see them when they move on. They arrive hungry, with lives in disarray; slowly they rebuild not just their own lives, but those of their families. Housing gives them autonomy, eliminates dependency. It gives them a chance to find a job, have an income. It's a base from which people can begin to fight for other rights."

"It was very important the support you gave," concluded Manoel. "The homeless movement had been neglected by human rights groups. Amnesty International gave the right to housing credibility as a human rights issue. The struggle continues even stronger today."

MSTC coordinator Ivaneti de Araujo, who lived on the street before joining the movement, expressed her enormous gratitude to Amnesty International. She testified to the direct impact of the letters on the Sao Paulo authorities: she had heard an official in the mayoral office saying, "Let's sort this out to stop the foreigners hassling us."

Background

On 3 November 2003, hundreds of homeless families occupied an abandoned clothes factory in downtown So Paulo, Brazil, the 22-storey Prestes Maia building. It had been empty for over 12 years, and had become known for drug-dealing and prostitution. Working with a local NGO, the Movimento Sem-Teto do Centro (MSTC), Homeless Movement of Central Sao Paulo, the families cleaned out the building, removing 300 truckloads of rubbish and large quantities of sewage. They pooled money and organised repairs and services including a library, a cinema, an art gallery and regular cultural events.

Lawyers from the homeless movement managed to stave off several eviction orders, while the MSTC tried to negotiate with the municipal authorities. In May 2007 an Amnesty delegation visited the Prestes Maia building as it was emptying out and talked to representatives of MSTC and families who had been living there.