ARTICLE - REFUGEES IN STADIUM STANDOFF

HAITIAN REFUGEES CAUGHT IN STADIUM STANDOFF
(Washington Post)- By Ingrid Arnesen and Nicholas Casey

PORT-AU-PRINCE — For more than a year, Sylvio Cator Stadium served as the home to some 2,600 refugees living in a tent camp. Now, it's the lightning rod for an eviction standoff as Haiti struggles to move forward with its efforts to rebuild.

On Tuesday morning, policemen arrived at the stadium and tussled with refugees after an argument broke out with stadium officials. The owners have cut off the water supply for those there in an effort to make them leave. "We're trying to isolate the refugees," said the stadium's director Rolny Saint Louis.

At the center of the standoff between officials and refugees is whether the facility, Haiti's national soccer venue, which was severely damaged by last year's earthquake, will be ready to host a World Cup elimination round against Costa Rica in August.

Sports officials say putting the stadium back in working condition is key to lifting morale and allowing Haiti to participate in the World Cup rounds—a signal to the world the island is recovering from its disaster. "If you don't have a stadium, you don't play in the World Cup" in 2014, said Jean Bart, president of Haiti's soccer federation.

But fixing the facility means evicting the thousands of refugees for whom the government has yet to find a home since the January 2010 quake. "We've lost everything," said Moise Theodille, a refugee. "There's a lot of pressure on us and yes, we want to leave but where?"

The clash underlines a key test for the island nation: How to rebuild with some 680,000 people still living at roughly 1,000 campsites, mainly in the damaged capital of Port-au-Prince, according to the Organization for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance, a nongovernmental group.

It is a prime challenge of Michel Martelly, who Haiti's government declared the winner of a runoff election on Monday after months of unrest. Mr. Martelly, a popular singer who arrives with no political experience, campaigned promising to repair the estimated $14 billion in damage caused by the earthquake, criticizing Haiti's government for not having resettled the country's refugees.

In an interview in January, Mr. Martelly said the refugee problem would be his first priority during his initial 100 days. "As long as the people are living in tents, we consider them as an urgency," he said.

That same government, led by outgoing president Rene Preval, still controls the legislature and was accused of fraud when it tried to disqualify Mr. Martelly from this month's run off—a decision it reversed under international pressure. In addition, Mr. Martelly will have to negotiate with many foreign actors, from powerful international charities to the United Nations, as he steers the nation ahead. Among his chief problems will be reducing the dependence on foreign aid and developing an independent economy, something Haiti has not had in centuries.

Then there are the refugees. In the city's upscale Petionville district, about 600 refugees have been waiting to be relocated for months from a soccer field whose owners are asking for it back. A local golf course recently put up a fence to prevent homeless from re-entering after the course was overrun by refugees who were later moved.

The fate of Sylvio Cator Stadium is now pitting sports officials with the refugees over who has rights to the facility. After weeks of failed negotiations between representatives of the refugees and the mayor's office, policemen arrived on Tuesday to try to calm tensions. Some say the opposite occurred. "Police hit me with a rifle butt," said Jean Herve Philippe, a homeless man who had a bloody forehead.

Refugees started arriving to the 60-year-old soccer stadium after the earthquake struck, in what was originally meant as a short-term arrangement as more permanent shelters were built elsewhere. At one point the U.S. Army created a food distribution center there and some groups set up medical tents. With aid available to them there, refugees laid down more permanent roots.

But the stadium—a symbol of Haiti's soccer team, some members of which had been killed in the quake—was also hit hard by the disaster. Its pipes were destroyed by the quake along with the electrical system, lighting and locker rooms. The stadium's turf has also been destroyed.

Surprising to many, there weren't many snags securing the money to rebuild the stadium. A U.S. company pledged $500,000 to do the electric and lighting work, and the Chinese government plans to send $800,000 for other stadium infrastructure. The International Federation of Association Football, the Zurich-based group that organizes the World Cup, donated $1.6 million to replace the turf so games can begin again.

But finding a place for the refugees has not been as easy. Recently refugees were told a space for 50 families had been secured and shelters were being installed. But the space, located in a slum area called Fifth Avenue had no shelters—and during a visit by a reporter, a group of angry residents shouted, saying refugees were not welcome.

"It's our soccer field," said Hyppolite Jean, one of those living in Fifth Avenue who didn't want the newcomers there.

Sports officials are also frustrated. Edel Grass, the Dutch Company hired to plant the turf, had expected refugees to have departed by April 1 and had shipped more than a dozen 40-foot long containers to Port-au-Prince, according to Rolny Saint Louis, the stadium director.

"The turf arrived today by boat and we are not ready," he explained. His deputy, Jean Marie Luc sat collapsed in a folding chair next to him. "The situation is very tense. The government has done nothing," he said, saying neither the mayor's office nor Haiti's sports ministry has instructed them on what to do.

Port-au-Prince Mayor Jean Yves Jason and the sports ministry did not return repeated calls for comment. A government spokesman would not comment on the situation, referring questions to the mayor's office.

Hammall Servil, a refugee and spokesman for those living there, lamented the confrontations that had taken place. "Soccer is the only thing that unites us as Haitians. Now it is dividing us."