A/HRC/34/51/Add.1 workers in Assam, who were forcibly brought from central India, but have not been given the status of scheduled tribe. Furthermore, their housing and living conditions, and the insecurity of tenure that they endure, are cause for concern. 49 70. The Special Rapporteur heard testimonies about the impact of displacement on scheduled tribes. They underscored her concerns about the construction of the Mapithel Dam as part of the Thoubal Multipurpose Project in the state of Manipur and the evictions resulting from the dam, which threaten the right to an adequate standard of living, including food and housing, and the way of living and livelihood of members of several tribal communities.50 C. Homeless people 71. Often referred to as “encroachers”, or people illegally occupying lands, homeless people living on the pavements are commonly regarded as outsiders, given that many of them are rural migrants from other states. As such, they are often not welcomed by local governments or other residents. Those discriminatory attitudes are not just part of common parlance in policy circles, but have also found their way into legal judgments, making it increasingly difficult for people who are homeless to win injunctions against forced eviction. As a result, homeless people are denied access to long-term housing solutions. Moreover, the interests of developers and development always seem to prevail over those of people who are homeless. D. Muslims 72. Muslims represent 14 per cent of the overall population. Discrimination against Muslims in housing manifests itself in different ways in different parts of the country. For example, studies on access to private rental accommodation in the capital show that discrimination against Muslims (as well as Dalits) can at times be a barrier to access to housing.51 Private landlords, real estate brokers and property dealers will often refuse to rent to someone who is Muslim, or impose unfair conditions on them. The Special Rapporteur was informed that in some parts of the country, Muslims have felt compelled to leave their neighbourhoods and move to places where other Muslims are living, often in informal settlements. The Special Rapporteur visited one such settlement where the conditions were extreme owing to overcrowding, the absence of sanitation facilities and electricity and the lack of garbage collection. E. Manual scavengers 73. Efforts to end manual scavenging in India are decades old, with various options having had limited success. Most recently, the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 was followed by a Supreme Court decision requiring state intervention to end manual scavenging and “rehabilitate” all people engaged in the practice, in line with the Constitution. Nonetheless, deeply-rooted caste and gender49 50 51 See FIAN International and others, “ A life without dignity — the price of your cup of tea: abuses and violations of human rights in tea plantations in India” (Heidelberg, Global Network for the Right to Food and Nutrition, 2016). A/HRC/30/27, p. 18 (case No. IND 4/2015). Sukhadeo Thorat and others, “Urban rental housing market: caste and religion matters in access”, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. L, nos. 26 and 27 (June 2015), p. 47. 17