Asia
India
In Mumbai, there are an estimated 10 to 12 million inhabitants, and six million of them are squatters. The squatters live in a variety of ways. Some possess two- or three-story homes built out of brick and concrete which they have inhabited for years. Geeta Nagar is a squatter village based beside the Indian Navy compound at Colaba. Squatter Colony in Malad East has existed since 1962, and now, people living there pay a rent to the city council of 100 rupees a month. Dharavi is a community of one million squatters. The stores and factories situated there are mainly illegal and so are unregulated, but it is suggested that they do over $1 million in business every day.
Other squatters live in shacks, situated literally on a pavement next to the road, with very few possessions.
Activists such as Jockin Arputham are working for better living conditions for slum dwellers.
Malaysia
Many of Malaysia's squatters live on land owned by Keretapi Tanah Melayu as well as at construction sites.
Philippines
Squatting is a major issue in the Philippines, especially in industrialized areas of the Philippines, including Metro Manila. Squatting gained notice after World War II, when people built makeshift houses called Barong-Barong inside abandoned private plots of land.
In the late 20th century, the Philippine government made separate attempts to transfer some squatters to low-cost housing projects, including projects in Tondo (in the former Smokey Mountain landfill), Taguig (BLISS Housing Project), and Rodriguez (formerly Montalban), Rizal.
In the Philippines, a distinction is made between squatters who squat because of poverty and squatters who squat because they want to profit (receive payment in exchange for leaving the real estate property). Squatters who hope to make a profit are called "professional squatters".
Australia
In the 19th century, a squatter was a person who occupied a large tract of Crown land in order to graze livestock. At first, this was done illegally, and later under license. From the 1820s they were part of the establishment, hence the term Squattocracy. This type of squatting is covered in greater detail at Squatting (pastoral).
In more recent times, there have been squats in the major cities. It would be possible for squatters to be charged with criminal trespass under the Enclosed Lands Protection Act, but mainly, squatters are simply evicted when they are discovered. As in the United Kingdom, there is the law of adverse possession, but it is seldom used.
Sydney
In Sydney, streets of terraced houses in areas such as the Rocks and Potts Point were squatted to prevent their demolition in the 1970s. The Glebe estate in Glebe, New South Wales was squatted in the 1960s and 1970s, and had an extensive influx of squatters in the 1980s. Also during the 1970s and 1980s, extensive parts of Woolloomooloo and Darlinghurst were also squatted, along corridors of houses bought to make way for new road works. Examples of these include "The Compound" in Darlinghurst and along Palmer Street in Woolloomooloo. Punks, political activists, musicians and artists also started squatting in "The Gunnery", a former Navy warehouse and training facility, in Woolloomooloo, during the early-to-mid 1980s. This squat, a large warehouse with several unusual spaces able to be used as theatres or other venues (thanks to its former use by the Navy) became a critical site for the development of arts and music in Sydney in the mid to late 1980s, with independent musical and art events being held there regularly. It is now an arts centre.,
The artists squatting empty buildings on Broadway owned by South Sydney City Council were evicted in 2001, a few months after the 2000 Olympics.
The Midnight Star was a squatted theatre used as a social centre, hosting music events, a cafe, a library, a free internet space and a Food Not Bombs kitchen. It was evicted in December 2002 following its use as a convergence centre for protests against the November World Trade Organisation talks.
In 2003, a legal squat was organised for ten people who moved onto the site of an old incinerator at Green Square.
There were estimated to be more than 120,000 unoccupied houses in Sydney in 2011.
Melbourne
Melbourne squats are usually located in the inner suburbs, like Footscray, St. Kilda and Coburg and tend to be houses that are waiting for demolition. A well-known squat in Carlton was organised by international students in 2008. A Squatter's Handbook was produced by activists in 1993, 2001 and 2010.
Throughout 1995-2009 in the capital of Queensland, Brisbane, a number of old buildings and dilapidated back alleys were used as squats within the vicinity of Brisbane City's Queen Street Mall. There are roughly 30-60 long-term homeless persons in the Brisbane CBD at any one time, who typically use squats as a means of shelter. Irregular intervals can bring 30-60+ short term displaced people.
A five-year-old squat was peacefully evicted in March 2008, when an office block in Balmain was demolished to make way for a park. The council voted to allow the squatters to stay in the building, which they called Iceland, until the plans for demolition were in place. One of the squatters said, "About 20 people have lived here over the years and it's been a place for band rehearsals, art projects, people practising dance routines, bike workshops. Squatting gives you a chance to think about things other than how you are going to pay the rent and ways to contribute to the world."
The Squatfest film festival began in the Broadway squats in 2001. It is both a celebration of squatting and a protest against the corporate capitalism of the Tropfest film festival. Every year, a site is occupied and films screened. The location is announced hours before screening begins.