A petition started over 3 months ago by Cabarete Sostenible to support 7 families that were wrongly evicted in La Cienega, Cabarete, has gathered 57,000 signatures online (and counting). These 7 families are still in the street or living with neighbors.
Let’s get 75,000 signatures and deliver our petition to the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, Orlando Jorge Mera, together with the Vice Minister of Protected Areas and Biodiversity, Federico Franco, so they can fix the mistake made on February 18, 2021 and help relocate these families in decent conditions.
As some of you may remember, on February 18, 2021, the Ministry of Medio Ambiente and the public force descended on La Cienega in Cabarete and expelled dozens of families that were illegally occupying protected areas.
Yet, in the course of this action, seven families, including 7 children who had been living in their homes legally and peacefully sometimes for more than 20 years, were given 60 min to vacate their houses, which were then destroyed to the ground.
These 7 families have not been relocated nor have received any help from the government. They have been living in the street since then, or at best with neighbors.
And we are sorry to report that in the last 4 months, despite repeated requests by these families and the organization of the Junta de Vecinos de La Cienega, NOTHING was done by the government nor any of its branches to help fix this humanitarian crisis.
To help bring national and international attention to this humanitarian situation, Cabarete Sostenible lended its support to the community of La Cienega, published a video, and started a petition on Change.org to support the 7 families and ask the government to relocate them properly.