The migrants report that the police gave them only 30 minutes to collect their belongings before removing them from the building.
14ymedio, Havana, Agusut 5, 2026 / Families of Cuban and Dominican migrants who paid 30,000 Uruguayan pesos (US$746) for the key to an apartment were evicted this Tuesday from a building in the Old City of Havana, Uruguay. According to Valeria España, director of the Social Protection Division for Migrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees at the Ministry of Social Development (MIDES), “the human rights of these people were violated.”
The testimonies of the okupas — squatters — reveal more figures about the costs of the apartments. Yani, from the Dominican Republic, paid 40,000 pesos (US$995) in 2024 to “buy” two rooms. Another immigrant who arrived from Santo Domingo in 2022 paid 60,000 pesos (US$1,493) for a room and a living room, to the supposed Uruguayan owners.
España told the newspaper La Diaria that 35 families, including 11 minors, lived in the building located at the corner of 25 de Mayo and Treinta y Tres streets. According to the official, the eviction was arbitrary because the Judiciary “has the authority to prevent evictions during the winter months, and also when there are children and pregnant women present, as in this case.”
They were given 30 minutes to gather their belongings and leave the place or “they would throw everything out the window”.
The police knocked and in some cases broke down the doors of the rooms occupied by dozens of migrants. They gave them 30 minutes to gather their belongings and leave, or else “they would throw everything out the window,” a Dominican man told the newspaper El Observador.
“It cannot be that evictions take place without considering basic aspects of human rights and the protection of children, leaving the procedure on a level of extreme discretion,” España insisted.
The owners’ lawyers told the same media outlet that squatters have occupied the building for years. The first complaint for illegal occupation was filed in 2019. “On that occasion, the squatters were evicted and the building was boarded up, but it was quickly reoccupied,” they said.
In 2022, they filed another complaint for usurpation. The case was delayed, and after several extensions, the second eviction took place this Tuesday.
The place, the lawyers argued, “was used as a hideout for several criminals and a place to sell drugs. In addition, it was common to see users entering with stolen goods.”
The Ministry of Social Development (MIDES) moved some 20 people, including migrant mothers and children, to a shelter. “Other people will go to a center,” said the National Director of Social Protection, Daniel Gherard. “We will provide assistance in all cases,” and he pledged that “no one will be left out in the open. No one will be left on the street.”
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