OSAKA (Kyodo) The Osaka Bar Association has demanded that the Osaka Municipal Government provide people living in two city parks with housing if it goes ahead with its plan to remove their tents prior to the World Rose Convention in May.
The lawyer group said in a statement issued Wednesday that forced removal without providing alternative housing is prohibited under the international human rights code.
"It is not acceptable if the city removes the tents and only recommends that the homeless people enter shelters, where they do not have sufficient privacy," the statement says.
Osaka gave final notice Tuesday to 22 people who have refused to leave the parks.
They have been told that their tents will be taken down if they do not do it themselves.
The city is expected to attempt to evict them as early as next week.