ARTICLE - RENTAL PRICES AN OBSTACLE

RENTAL PRICES AN OBSTACLE TO RELOCATION FOR THE DISPLACED
(Haiti Libre) -

In its latest report, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that the camp population in Haiti was about 594,800, distributed in 894 camps, at the end of July 2011; representing a decrease of about 6% compared to May 2011 (634,807).

Despite the decrease in the numbers, the departure from the camps has slowed compared to the report of the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) of May 2011, which indicates that alternative housing is becoming more difficult to find for the displaced.

"In the last six months, the pace of exit from camps has slowed down considerably and most of those now in camps were renters before the quake," declared Luca Dall'Oglio, IOM Haiti Chief of Mission. "Also, the number of former camp residents who departed without appropriate housing remains unacceptably high and they were driven out primarily by push factors such as poor living conditions in the camp, rain, insecurity, crime, and evictions."

In some cases, Haitian officials have paid the victims so that they can leave the camps. But often these people have nowhere to go and eventually erect a tent or a shack in another unsafe camp of the capital. Although the transition to self-management has shown some success, there is growing pressure to deliver housing solutions for the internally displaced.

The Haitian government has developed a comprehensive proposal that would lead to the closure of six of the largest camps and rehabilitate 16 to return to communities.

Damien Jusselme responsible for monitoring and evaluation of the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) added that the various needs faced by these people are funding needs; a housing subsidy.

The IOM says that the new program that it will help to implement in Haiti, will help to reduce this problem by paying the rent of the victims in new homes, rather than pay them money directly so that they leave. To this end, the program will use money from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to pay the rent for a year to some 1,200 families currently living in two parks of Petionville, said Leonard Doyle, spokesman for IOM.