South Asia State of Minorities Report 2019 Dalit settlements have regularly been uprooted by redevelopment programmes and resettled in remote locations elsewhere. Urban Dalits have reported that on average they have been evicted at least twice from their colonies.13 ‘Sometimes we don’t know if we are human beings. The government drives us away from our homes whenever they feel like it. This sort of thing does not happen even to the Bihari camps or Rohingya. We are citizens of this country but are forced to flee from one colony to another,’ said one Dalit woman, describing her experiences of eviction.14 The housing situation of Dalits has become even more precarious due to the loss of their traditional employment with government agencies, municipalities, hospitals and other institutions, typically as cleaners, and accommodation provided by these employers. Increasingly, such employment is being offered to contracted employees and larger numbers of other Bangladeshis have also begun working as cleaners or sweepers, meaning that many colonies are now occupied by a growing share of non-Dalits. In this context, some Dalits have been forced to look for housing outside their colonies, where they have struggled to find rooms due to their limited resources and caste barriers. Their plight is illustrated by the residents of Ganaktuly City Colony, the biggest Dalit colony of Dhaka, which was demolished for reconstruction in June 2019. Many displaced families struggled to rent houses in slums or settlements nearby, with some families forced to take shelter in the colony’s community centre.15 Furthermore, those who are not employees of the Dhaka South City Corporation fear that they will not be able to access housing in the newly constructed colony once it is completed. What will happen to them then, is impossible to predict. 13 Interview, Bhempalli David Raju, an activist of Bangladesh Dalit Human Rights (BDHR) organization. 14 Women of Ganaktuli Colony during a meeting with Dalit women in October 2019. 15 Interview, Moni Rani Das, President, Bangladesh Dalit and Excluded Rights Movement (BDERM). 22