NEARLY ONE QUARTER OF THOSE STILL HOMELESS IN HAITI THREATENED WITH EVICTION
(CCCM Cluster) - www.cccmhaiti.info/
Haiti – Nearly one quarter of those still homeless in Haiti threatened with eviction
The threat of imminent eviction hangs over the heads of some 166,000 people living in IDP camps in Haiti as the rainy season arrives in the Caribbean.
Nearly one in four of the 680,000 IDPs camp residents in Haiti, (comprising 24% of those living in camps), have been told they must leave by landowners, according to the findings of a comprehensive report on evictions published by the IOM mission in Haiti today.
The rapid pace of evictions is an important driver in the decline of camp numbers which IOM's Displacement Tracking Matrix records as falling from 1.5 million people last year to 680,000 currently. It is evident that many people are leaving the camps under duress, and that evictions are playing an increasingly important role in the population trends in camps.
"This report confirms the need to move forward towards the implementation of activities focused on return and housing solutions for IDP families, but mainly for the most vulnerable such as those who are threatened with eviction or were already evicted", said IOM's Haiti Chief of Mission Luca Dall'Oglio.
Across the earthquake-affected area the rising rate of evictions is outpacing the capacity of the Government of Haiti and the humanitarian community to deliver housing solutions. This week 450 families living around the Silvio Cator football stadium are threatened with eviction. Working with the Government of Haiti the humanitarian community has arranged for 50 families to have Transitional Shelter on a safe site. However, 400 families remain at grave risk of being left homeless unless action is taken quickly to secure more land for shelter.
Today's IOM report indicates that the rate of eviction cases has increased significantly this year and new threats of eviction have been identified in 68 camps since January, compared with a total of 179 cases reported between June and December in 2010.
Since June 2010, when evictions started in earnest, a total of 247 sites in 10 communes in Haiti have come under threat – this has affected approximately 233,941 individuals thus far.
Of those 247 sites threatened with eviction, 44,017 people from 45 sites (18 %) have been evicted and the situation in 24 camps (10%) hosting 23,947 people has been resolved through negotiations with the landowner by IOM Camp Management staff. The remaining 178 cases in camps (72%), hosting 165,977 people, are still going through a mediation process, with the outcome for the affected families still uncertain.
According to the report, 8% of the IDP population currently threatened with eviction is located on public land and 67% is located on private land (25% no data on ownership).
In terms of the number of IDP camps in the different communes threatened with eviction, the most affected commune is Delmas, where there have been verified threats of eviction in 69 sites, affecting 134,737 individuals. Of those, 26,967 have already been forced to leave 10 camps.
The second most affected commune is Petionville with 38 sites, affecting 18,934 people of which 3,633 have already left 15 camps. The third most affected commune is Carrefour involving 24 sites with 26,623 individuals of which 911 IDPs were evicted from a camp.
Cite Soleil commune has the second highest number of individuals (6,215) who have already been evicted from 7 camps out of a total of 20 which have been threatened with eviction.
As part of its Camp Coordination, Camp Management (CCCM) leadership role, IOM has compiled the eviction information using its camp management operations teams. These teams have been supporting the IDP population in the mediation processes with the landowners, helping residents to negotiate time extensions in most cases. The aim is to provide sufficient time to allow t e realization of a return strategy to provide the IDPs with durable and sustainable solutions.
In partnership with camp committees, municipal authorities, MINUSTAH and other concerned actors, IOM will continue to monitor the eviction threats in the IDP camps in coordination with the CCCM cluster, and provide consolidated data collected to the Government of Haiti, CCCM cluster partners and other organizations working on camp management in order to coordinate the response, protect the IDP population and support the departure of IDPs from the camps in a dignified manner.
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