DESTRUCTIONS IN IDP CAMP "GRACE VILLAGE"
(Haiti Libre) -
Amnesty International delegates visited the Grace Village refugee camp, in the Carrefour district, in May, and received assurances from the representative of the man claiming to be the landowner of the camp, that residents would not be forcibly evicted. However, since then, more shelters have been marked for demolition, and residents continue to be threatened and harassed...
According to Amnesty International, "On the night of 11 June, Grace Village’s site manager and four local police officers armed with firearms and machetes entered the camp and destroyed at least 15 makeshift shelters. The shelters were allegedly empty and marked as such after the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) conducted a census in the camp. However, Amnesty International was informed that some residents were sleeping in some of these shelters when the attack took place. One of the shelters was occupied by a pregnant woman and a nursing woman; in another shelter, two boys were sleeping when the police officers and the site manager set out to destroy it. They were kicked by the police officers as they tried to flee. Although according to camp residents no one was forced to leave the camp, those that had their shelters destroyed on 11 June were not offered compensation or alternative accommodation.
The site manager has marked 47 additional shelters for demolition, including the shelters of camp residents that were registered during the IOM census...
Amnesty International believes this is in retaliation against camp residents and women in particular, who complained about threats, intimidation and sexual harassment from the site manager. Fourteen shelters in sector 12 of the site have been identified for relocation to another area, which is prone to flooding..."
Showing posts with label Articles - Refuge Camps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Articles - Refuge Camps. Show all posts
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
ARTICLE - JACMEL IDPS - DISSATISFIED
IDPs FROM JACMEL, DISSATISFIED WITH THE RELOCATION MEASURES
(Haiti Libre) -
About two and a half years after the earthquake of January 2010, many displaced families still live in camps, particularly in the Wolf locality and Park Pinchinat of Jacmel. Haitian authorities and the delegation of the South-East, in agreement with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), have finally decided last week to clear out the last families who occupy these sites, according to the delegate Pierre Michel Lafontant, who explains that discussions have been initiated with the leaders of these two sites,during which the regional authorities and IOM have imposed their decisions. "There is a solution. We will provide victims 20,000 gourdes so they can lease a house." The Delegation of the South East gives himself about one month and a half months to complete the evacuation process in both camps.
Jean Carlos Milot Lauccident, the Coordinator of the camp committee of Pinchinat, regrets that the proposed amount for each family does not take into account the number of persons per family, nor the trouble in finding a decent home. "Most families do not agree with these measures," he says. The families concerned, see in this decision, a humiliation and an insult to their human dignity. "They can not pursue us with their tractors, and offer us 20,000 gourdes..." protested one of the persons concerned by these measures.
IDPs have vigorously criticized President Martelly, who - according to them, did not meet his promise of the electoral campaign. In addition, besides the difficulty in finding a house [the leasing contract will be signed directly between IOM and the owners of houses], the displaced are concerned about the contract's renewal after one year...
(Haiti Libre) -
About two and a half years after the earthquake of January 2010, many displaced families still live in camps, particularly in the Wolf locality and Park Pinchinat of Jacmel. Haitian authorities and the delegation of the South-East, in agreement with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), have finally decided last week to clear out the last families who occupy these sites, according to the delegate Pierre Michel Lafontant, who explains that discussions have been initiated with the leaders of these two sites,during which the regional authorities and IOM have imposed their decisions. "There is a solution. We will provide victims 20,000 gourdes so they can lease a house." The Delegation of the South East gives himself about one month and a half months to complete the evacuation process in both camps.
Jean Carlos Milot Lauccident, the Coordinator of the camp committee of Pinchinat, regrets that the proposed amount for each family does not take into account the number of persons per family, nor the trouble in finding a decent home. "Most families do not agree with these measures," he says. The families concerned, see in this decision, a humiliation and an insult to their human dignity. "They can not pursue us with their tractors, and offer us 20,000 gourdes..." protested one of the persons concerned by these measures.
IDPs have vigorously criticized President Martelly, who - according to them, did not meet his promise of the electoral campaign. In addition, besides the difficulty in finding a house [the leasing contract will be signed directly between IOM and the owners of houses], the displaced are concerned about the contract's renewal after one year...
Saturday, June 2, 2012
ARTICLE - CORAIL - OXFAM TEMPORARILY STOPS
OXFAM TEMPORARILY STOPS ITS OPERATIONS IN CORAIL
(Haiti Libre) -
Following two demonstrations on 25 April and 30 May 2012 before its premises in Petion-ville by a group of people from the Corail Camp, the international organization Oxfam announced that it is stopping momentarily its water and sanitation operations in this IDP camp, pending clarification of the situation. The organization regrets that the demonstrators had proffered unfounded charges against the organisation, despite the transparency that has always marked its relations with the general population, and in particular with the beneficiaries of its various projects in the camp.
Oxfam has operated in Corail since April 2010 in the water and sanitation activities as well as in economic empowerment of the beneficiaries. The Water and Sanitation component is still ongoing and reaches 10,000 people. However the program to support small businesses ended in December 2011. All of these activities was conducted in collaboration with the population in a transparent and participatory manner.
The support program for small businesses that ended in December 2011, targeted a small number of beneficiaries, who had already had business before the earthquake. to help them relaunch their economic activities. The selection process of these beneficiaries was done in collaboration with the City of Croix-des-Bouquets, committees, and camp residents. Oxfam began by explaining to the residents of Corail that the objective and the resources allocated to this program did not aim at the entire population, but rather to small entrepreneurs obeying the clear criteria and which was previously established by Oxfam and its partners. Oxfam has in no way pledged money to each family head.
Oxfam is committed to listen to the claims and grievances of the people in each meeting held until now and takes seriously their discontent. Oxfam is committed to review the implementation of the program and verify each of the grievances and claims of the group. "Oxfam has held meetings with the Mayor and heads of committees to explain in full transparency the programs and methodologies used, and continues to collaborate in mutual respect with all stakeholders", indicated Mr. Damien Berrendorf, the Associate Director of Oxfam.
Oxfam has undertaken to assess the design and implementation of the program to support small business and agrees to share the findings with all interested parties.
Oxfam is therefore obliged to temporarily suspend its activities related to water and sanitation because of the security situation which has deteriorated in recent weeks. Oxfam continues to work with local authorities in the resolution of conflict in order to recreate an atmosphere of trust and security, and to resume the activities at Corail.
(Haiti Libre) -
Following two demonstrations on 25 April and 30 May 2012 before its premises in Petion-ville by a group of people from the Corail Camp, the international organization Oxfam announced that it is stopping momentarily its water and sanitation operations in this IDP camp, pending clarification of the situation. The organization regrets that the demonstrators had proffered unfounded charges against the organisation, despite the transparency that has always marked its relations with the general population, and in particular with the beneficiaries of its various projects in the camp.
Oxfam has operated in Corail since April 2010 in the water and sanitation activities as well as in economic empowerment of the beneficiaries. The Water and Sanitation component is still ongoing and reaches 10,000 people. However the program to support small businesses ended in December 2011. All of these activities was conducted in collaboration with the population in a transparent and participatory manner.
The support program for small businesses that ended in December 2011, targeted a small number of beneficiaries, who had already had business before the earthquake. to help them relaunch their economic activities. The selection process of these beneficiaries was done in collaboration with the City of Croix-des-Bouquets, committees, and camp residents. Oxfam began by explaining to the residents of Corail that the objective and the resources allocated to this program did not aim at the entire population, but rather to small entrepreneurs obeying the clear criteria and which was previously established by Oxfam and its partners. Oxfam has in no way pledged money to each family head.
Oxfam is committed to listen to the claims and grievances of the people in each meeting held until now and takes seriously their discontent. Oxfam is committed to review the implementation of the program and verify each of the grievances and claims of the group. "Oxfam has held meetings with the Mayor and heads of committees to explain in full transparency the programs and methodologies used, and continues to collaborate in mutual respect with all stakeholders", indicated Mr. Damien Berrendorf, the Associate Director of Oxfam.
Oxfam has undertaken to assess the design and implementation of the program to support small business and agrees to share the findings with all interested parties.
Oxfam is therefore obliged to temporarily suspend its activities related to water and sanitation because of the security situation which has deteriorated in recent weeks. Oxfam continues to work with local authorities in the resolution of conflict in order to recreate an atmosphere of trust and security, and to resume the activities at Corail.
ARTICLE - EVICTION RISK - CAMP MORMON
RISK OF EVICTION FOR 300 FAMILIES WITHIN 48 HOURS
(Haiti Libre) -
300 residents of Camp Mormon in the municipality of Delmas in Port-au-Prince, risk a forced eviction within 15 days or within 48 hours, and they have spoken with Amnesty International delegates. The camp residents stated that at 3 am on 14 May, approximately 20 men, including local municipal officials, entered the camp, and warned them that they would be forcibly evicted in 15 days time, if they did not vacate the land. Some of the men were armed, and they opened fire on a group of camp residents, four of whom sustained injuries while trying to run for cover. Prior to this incident, residents of Camp Mormon had received numerous threats of eviction and of violence if they did not comply. On 8 February, local municipal officials accompanied by armed men threatened to burn down the camp and shoot residents if they did not leave. Camp residents have filed complaints at the Prosecutor’s Office in relation to both these incidents.
No court order for the eviction or any other legal notice has ever been presented and there has been no adequate consultation with the families or any offer for the provision of alternative housing. The residents of Camp Mormon live in improvised shelters, and the camp has poor sanitary conditions, and no running water. The camp’s population includes a number of women who are pregnant or have recently given birth, and the majority of families are headed by women.
The families living in Camp Mormon were among the hundreds of thousands who had been left homeless after January 12, 2010 and who had no alternative but to make their own shelters wherever they could. 28 months later, they are among the nearly half a million people still living in makeshift camps where their rights to adequate housing and access to basic services are denied.
Internally displaced persons in at least 60% of the camps are under threat of forced evictions. Thousands of families have already been forcibly evicted since January 2010 without any due process, and were made homeless once more. Durable solutions to provide adequate housing to those affected are slow to be implemented.
(Haiti Libre) -
300 residents of Camp Mormon in the municipality of Delmas in Port-au-Prince, risk a forced eviction within 15 days or within 48 hours, and they have spoken with Amnesty International delegates. The camp residents stated that at 3 am on 14 May, approximately 20 men, including local municipal officials, entered the camp, and warned them that they would be forcibly evicted in 15 days time, if they did not vacate the land. Some of the men were armed, and they opened fire on a group of camp residents, four of whom sustained injuries while trying to run for cover. Prior to this incident, residents of Camp Mormon had received numerous threats of eviction and of violence if they did not comply. On 8 February, local municipal officials accompanied by armed men threatened to burn down the camp and shoot residents if they did not leave. Camp residents have filed complaints at the Prosecutor’s Office in relation to both these incidents.
No court order for the eviction or any other legal notice has ever been presented and there has been no adequate consultation with the families or any offer for the provision of alternative housing. The residents of Camp Mormon live in improvised shelters, and the camp has poor sanitary conditions, and no running water. The camp’s population includes a number of women who are pregnant or have recently given birth, and the majority of families are headed by women.
The families living in Camp Mormon were among the hundreds of thousands who had been left homeless after January 12, 2010 and who had no alternative but to make their own shelters wherever they could. 28 months later, they are among the nearly half a million people still living in makeshift camps where their rights to adequate housing and access to basic services are denied.
Internally displaced persons in at least 60% of the camps are under threat of forced evictions. Thousands of families have already been forcibly evicted since January 2010 without any due process, and were made homeless once more. Durable solutions to provide adequate housing to those affected are slow to be implemented.
ARTICLE - RENOVATIONS - DADADOU
RENOVATIONS BEGIN FOR DADADOU SPORTS CENTER
(Defend Haiti) -
PORT-AU-PRINCE - A ceremony was held by the Mayor Wilson Jeudy of Delmas, and the Minister of Youth, Sports and Civic Activities Jean Rene Roosevelt, to mark the start of renovations of the Dadadou Sports Centre.
The Dadadou Center was built in December of 1980 during the "Baby Doc" Duvalier regime. It fell into disrepair and was brought back to life by President Rene Préval, who completed renovations to the property in December of 2009.
But it would be only a month, in January of 2010 that Haiti would experience an earthquake, and more than 500 families would make the grounds of the Dadadou Center their home.
Families were recently given the equivalent of $500 [US] in gourdes to vacate the premises that now need to be renovated again.
The launching of the renovations was attended by the Minister of Tourism, Stephanie Villedrouin and the Head of Sport for Programs for Change, Olivier Martelly and Caroline Kneeper, MINUSTAH representative for Commonality and Violence Reduction according to Le Nouvelliste.
With 2 tennis courts, a soccer field, surrounded by a track of 5 lanes, a warm-up field, basketball and volleyball grounds surrounded by fences, has enabled the inhabitants of Petion-Ville, upper and lower Delmas and Cité Soleil to stay fit and participate in sports.
(Defend Haiti) -
PORT-AU-PRINCE - A ceremony was held by the Mayor Wilson Jeudy of Delmas, and the Minister of Youth, Sports and Civic Activities Jean Rene Roosevelt, to mark the start of renovations of the Dadadou Sports Centre.
The Dadadou Center was built in December of 1980 during the "Baby Doc" Duvalier regime. It fell into disrepair and was brought back to life by President Rene Préval, who completed renovations to the property in December of 2009.
But it would be only a month, in January of 2010 that Haiti would experience an earthquake, and more than 500 families would make the grounds of the Dadadou Center their home.
Families were recently given the equivalent of $500 [US] in gourdes to vacate the premises that now need to be renovated again.
The launching of the renovations was attended by the Minister of Tourism, Stephanie Villedrouin and the Head of Sport for Programs for Change, Olivier Martelly and Caroline Kneeper, MINUSTAH representative for Commonality and Violence Reduction according to Le Nouvelliste.
With 2 tennis courts, a soccer field, surrounded by a track of 5 lanes, a warm-up field, basketball and volleyball grounds surrounded by fences, has enabled the inhabitants of Petion-Ville, upper and lower Delmas and Cité Soleil to stay fit and participate in sports.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
ARTICLE - 400,000 STILL IN CAMPS
400,000 STILL AT HAITI QUAKE CAMPS
(Dallas News) - By
AP PORT-AU-PRINCE — The number of Haitians displaced by the 2010 earthquake has dropped 14 per cent since February and now numbers about 421,000, a humanitarian group in the Caribbean nation said yesterday.
The International Organisation for Migration said in a statement that the drop marks the steepest decline in the camp population since early last year.
Some 73 per cent of the original population has now left the gloomy camps that sprang up after the January 2010 earthquake, when an estimated 1.5 million people lost their homes, IOM said.
IOM also said that 58 camps closed between February and April, bringing the number of camps down to 602 from 660 in February 2012 and 1,555 in July 2010.
The decline can be attributed in part to a rental subsidy programme that awarded families in the camps $500 to find housing elsewhere. Many families in the settlements lost their livelihoods in the disaster and were too poor to afford lodging.
IOM also attributed the drop to a government program that cleared out six highly visible camps in Haiti’s capital and relocated them to their original neighbourhoods, also using rental subsidies. The project covered about five per cent of the camp population.
Haitian officials and the Canadian government are also helping move people from Champ de Mars, a public square across the street from the crumbled National Palace that became a visible symbol of the quake’s devastation. They hope to finish clearing out the plaza this summer.
Other displaced people have left the settlements because they were evicted by police or land owners seeking to reclaim their property.
(Dallas News) - By
AP PORT-AU-PRINCE — The number of Haitians displaced by the 2010 earthquake has dropped 14 per cent since February and now numbers about 421,000, a humanitarian group in the Caribbean nation said yesterday.
The International Organisation for Migration said in a statement that the drop marks the steepest decline in the camp population since early last year.
Some 73 per cent of the original population has now left the gloomy camps that sprang up after the January 2010 earthquake, when an estimated 1.5 million people lost their homes, IOM said.
IOM also said that 58 camps closed between February and April, bringing the number of camps down to 602 from 660 in February 2012 and 1,555 in July 2010.
The decline can be attributed in part to a rental subsidy programme that awarded families in the camps $500 to find housing elsewhere. Many families in the settlements lost their livelihoods in the disaster and were too poor to afford lodging.
IOM also attributed the drop to a government program that cleared out six highly visible camps in Haiti’s capital and relocated them to their original neighbourhoods, also using rental subsidies. The project covered about five per cent of the camp population.
Haitian officials and the Canadian government are also helping move people from Champ de Mars, a public square across the street from the crumbled National Palace that became a visible symbol of the quake’s devastation. They hope to finish clearing out the plaza this summer.
Other displaced people have left the settlements because they were evicted by police or land owners seeking to reclaim their property.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
ARTICLE - REFUGE CAMP - VIOLENCE, FEAR
VIOLENCE AND FEAR AT REFUGEE CAMP IN HAITI
(Prensa Latina) -
An assault at a shelter for refugees from the Jan. 2010 earthquake claimed two lives and provoked tens of wounded, denounced today Plataforma de Derechos Humanos.
The incident at Gaston Magron de Mariani camp, on the periphery, makes the displaced panicky, fearing new assaults, reports Alterpresse news agency, while the humanitarian organization reminds that the refugees, now living in tents, are frequent victims of threats, rape, assaults, arson or eviction by estate owners.
Nearly one third of the 500,000 quake victims live in 660 camps located in regions declared disaster areas, said the International Organization for Migrations.
The UN Coordination Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the refugees live in destitute conditions and are in urgent need of relief; over $231M, to meet the needy basic necessities.
Data from Haiti's Human Rights Network (Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains -RNDDH) rates as 48% access to clean water, one single latrine for 112 refugees, and just 18 percent of those facilities have a sink.
The situation is worse in Petit-Goave (south) with one latrine per 141 persons and one shower per 185, and no medical office nor a pharmacy.
Sanitary conditions are also critical nation wide, says OCHA, because almost two years after the disaster the streets remain packed with debris, filthy water pools and garbage.
Although the United Nations announced the removal of debris, some five million cubic meters have not been cleared and the volume matches 2,000 Olympic swimming pools.
(Prensa Latina) -
An assault at a shelter for refugees from the Jan. 2010 earthquake claimed two lives and provoked tens of wounded, denounced today Plataforma de Derechos Humanos.
The incident at Gaston Magron de Mariani camp, on the periphery, makes the displaced panicky, fearing new assaults, reports Alterpresse news agency, while the humanitarian organization reminds that the refugees, now living in tents, are frequent victims of threats, rape, assaults, arson or eviction by estate owners.
Nearly one third of the 500,000 quake victims live in 660 camps located in regions declared disaster areas, said the International Organization for Migrations.
The UN Coordination Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the refugees live in destitute conditions and are in urgent need of relief; over $231M, to meet the needy basic necessities.
Data from Haiti's Human Rights Network (Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains -RNDDH) rates as 48% access to clean water, one single latrine for 112 refugees, and just 18 percent of those facilities have a sink.
The situation is worse in Petit-Goave (south) with one latrine per 141 persons and one shower per 185, and no medical office nor a pharmacy.
Sanitary conditions are also critical nation wide, says OCHA, because almost two years after the disaster the streets remain packed with debris, filthy water pools and garbage.
Although the United Nations announced the removal of debris, some five million cubic meters have not been cleared and the volume matches 2,000 Olympic swimming pools.
Friday, April 13, 2012
ARTICLE - INSIDE A TENT CITY SLUM
INSIDE A TENT CITY SLUM
(Free Press) - By Christine Parrish
The 2010 earthquake in Haiti did more than kill thousands of people; it has led to a loss of family structure and is breeding a generation of foreign aid dependence that is weakening Haitian resilience, according to Michael Joell Jeune, a young Haitian who was raised in the Grace International orphanage on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince and who was attending Emory University in Georgia when the earthquake happened. Within hours, Jeune returned to Haiti to take over as manager of a tent city that sprang up unplanned on the 16-acre compound that housed a home for widows, a hospital, schools, an orphanage, and a church, some of which collapsed in the earthquake.
At the beginning of March 2012, Jeune walked a group of observers, including Free Press reporter Christine Parrish, through the Grace tent city of 11,000 adults and an uncounted number of children that could easily swell the numbers to well over 40,000.
In his own words, Jeune talks about how the camp formed and the challenges Grace International faces in managing it.
People started coming here right after the earthquake. First it was 7,000 adults, then 25,000 adults, now it is around 11,000 adults.
This was not a planned tent camp. It just happened. It was a swarm of people who came here after the quake because there was open space.
The camp is a city within a city and we have to manage it, just like you would a city, with services for trash, electricity, water, food, sewage.
Right after the earthquake, here at Grace Village, there was no food and no water and no help. We had about 60 doctors, but it was triage, so if there was no visible bleeding, the patients were set aside. Many of them died of internal injuries while they waited.
At that time, gasoline was $90 U.S. a gallon. I knew Americans were just coming into Port-au-Prince at the airport, wanting to help and not knowing where to go. I went and rounded them up and brought them back here.
We organized it and named the different blocks after different neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince, as a way to organize civic-work and education in the tent camp. We had a leader for each "neighborhood" that rotated to a new leader every month. We didn't want there to be any coups.
We had a block named Villa Rosa, one named Sun City. The funny thing was, the people in the blocks started to act like the people in that Port-au-Prince neighborhood. They started to take on the characteristics. In some blocks that was good, but the block named Sun City turned very bad.
[Cite Soleil, or Sun City, is a notorious Port-au-Prince slum run by drug lords. It is essentially lawless, since law enforcement typically refuse to enter. When they do, they often go in force, creating as much danger for the residents as for the criminals.]
Gangsters started to gather there. It was very dangerous and we couldn't control it, so I decided to take away all the names and give the blocks numbers, and move some people to new blocks.
We have had to create gates within gates to manage the people. The gates are locked and guarded after ten at night. I didn't move any of the gangsters out of Block 11, which had been Sun City. I moved out anyone who was a victim. Pretty soon, there were only gangsters left and they had no-one to prey on and they just left the tent city. The block now has no tents. It is the guard center and there is a community center.
There are all kinds of people here: Catholics, Baptists, vodou believers, a judge, cops, teachers and homeless people. We probably have criminals who were released from the prisons because of the earthquake. Many go out to work every day. Some of the children go to the school; their parents have enough for the school fees.
There are three categories of people here. The first own property and are stuck; they have no place to go back to and have to save.
There is no mortgage system in Haiti; people build their homes over the course of 20 or 30 years. When they can afford to build more, they do.
Do you ever wonder why you see homes with the top floor not finished, looking like they have been there awhile? With the rebar sticking out of the top? That is because the family is saving money to finish the home.
In 45 seconds, their cars and their homes were lost.
With no mortgage and no home insurance, they have no way to start to rebuild at this time.
We have people who were homeless before the quake who feel lucky to have this; we have people who lost the home they owned and are trying to save enough to start to build another one.
We also have people who are renting their place to aid organizations and they stay here, in the camp. Part of the reason for that is that foreigners can't own property in Haiti. They must rent cars and housing.
We have people who could leave right now. They have homes they have decided to rent out and stay here for free. I cannot imagine why someone would choose to do that; this is no place to raise a family. This is no environment to live in.
Families are important in Haiti, but a lot of the family structure changed after the quake. There are a lot of unwed mothers in the camp. There are young girls - 9, 10, 11 years old - who are selling themselves for a plate of food. You can see them any night, around 8 p.m.
There are 11,000 adults and we have food for less than about 400 kids, one serving to take home and share with their families, and we don't have the money every day for the Lord's Kitchen. It is day by day, depending on donations. We have had it three days this week.
[The children are let in through the tall solid gates in batches of 30 or so, their hands marked with a pen as they come through, so they can't go through the line twice. They stand in two lines, one for girls and one for boys, and food servers, who live in the tent city themselves, keep the lines moving. The feeding station is managed so that ten children go through the line at a time. There is no shoving. It is closely managed. And when the food is gone, there are often still unfed children behind the gate, as there was the day we visited.]
This tent city is a big struggle for Grace International because we don't have the money to run it or control it and we are up against a time limit for squatter's rights. The government allows people to claim squatter's rights after three years and that is coming up next January. People know this and we have already had seven lawsuits brought just because we moved people from one tent site in the city to another.
There is a big crunch to get people off the property by next year, so we can rebuild our school and hospital. I pray. I don't know how we are going to do it.
You know the Sean Penn camp and what happened there. Penn rented the golf course for one and a half to two years, but he is not renting it anymore. Now, the owner is stuck with the problem of who is left living there and the squatter's rights coming up. Now, everyone is afraid to let people stay on their property. All landowners are afraid it will bite them in the butt.
Most of the effects of the earthquake are gone now.
The Haitians in the camp, we are a resilient people. We have had hurricanes, coups, epidemics and we always get back up and keep going.
The foreign aid that comes to the country is necessary, but the best way to do it is to partner with local operations. For long-term help, we need education. That is the lever.
There is no public schooling in Haiti. People must pay about $30 U.S. a month for school, which includes the school uniform, books and a meal at lunchtime.
[The U.S. Department of State clarifies the cost of education: Public education is free, when people can find it. The cost is still high for Haitian families who must pay for uniforms, textbooks, and supplies, but around 90 percent of primary schools are either private or parochial schools. Though Haitians place a high value on education, few can afford to send their children to secondary school and primary school enrollment is dropping due to economic conditions.]
Haitians are not stupid people. They know that education is what it's all about. They know it is the only way to improve their lives. It's common knowledge. But many Haitians cannot go straight through school, so it is not unusual for some Haitians to go to school for one year, then work for a year while another child in the family goes, then go back for a year. They take turns, so it is not unusual for a Haitian to graduate from high school at the age of 25.
[The literacy rate is still quite low; the United Nations reports that 49 percent of the population can read and write, at least at a basic level. The American literacy rate is 99 percent.]
In the short term, all these aid organizations have created a lot of dependency in Haiti. People get comfortable, even in a place like this. They get complacent. They lose their incentive. It is the most horrible thing that could happen to them. This is not a place to raise a family.
(Free Press) - By Christine Parrish
The 2010 earthquake in Haiti did more than kill thousands of people; it has led to a loss of family structure and is breeding a generation of foreign aid dependence that is weakening Haitian resilience, according to Michael Joell Jeune, a young Haitian who was raised in the Grace International orphanage on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince and who was attending Emory University in Georgia when the earthquake happened. Within hours, Jeune returned to Haiti to take over as manager of a tent city that sprang up unplanned on the 16-acre compound that housed a home for widows, a hospital, schools, an orphanage, and a church, some of which collapsed in the earthquake.
At the beginning of March 2012, Jeune walked a group of observers, including Free Press reporter Christine Parrish, through the Grace tent city of 11,000 adults and an uncounted number of children that could easily swell the numbers to well over 40,000.
In his own words, Jeune talks about how the camp formed and the challenges Grace International faces in managing it.
People started coming here right after the earthquake. First it was 7,000 adults, then 25,000 adults, now it is around 11,000 adults.
This was not a planned tent camp. It just happened. It was a swarm of people who came here after the quake because there was open space.
The camp is a city within a city and we have to manage it, just like you would a city, with services for trash, electricity, water, food, sewage.
Right after the earthquake, here at Grace Village, there was no food and no water and no help. We had about 60 doctors, but it was triage, so if there was no visible bleeding, the patients were set aside. Many of them died of internal injuries while they waited.
At that time, gasoline was $90 U.S. a gallon. I knew Americans were just coming into Port-au-Prince at the airport, wanting to help and not knowing where to go. I went and rounded them up and brought them back here.
We organized it and named the different blocks after different neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince, as a way to organize civic-work and education in the tent camp. We had a leader for each "neighborhood" that rotated to a new leader every month. We didn't want there to be any coups.
We had a block named Villa Rosa, one named Sun City. The funny thing was, the people in the blocks started to act like the people in that Port-au-Prince neighborhood. They started to take on the characteristics. In some blocks that was good, but the block named Sun City turned very bad.
[Cite Soleil, or Sun City, is a notorious Port-au-Prince slum run by drug lords. It is essentially lawless, since law enforcement typically refuse to enter. When they do, they often go in force, creating as much danger for the residents as for the criminals.]
Gangsters started to gather there. It was very dangerous and we couldn't control it, so I decided to take away all the names and give the blocks numbers, and move some people to new blocks.
We have had to create gates within gates to manage the people. The gates are locked and guarded after ten at night. I didn't move any of the gangsters out of Block 11, which had been Sun City. I moved out anyone who was a victim. Pretty soon, there were only gangsters left and they had no-one to prey on and they just left the tent city. The block now has no tents. It is the guard center and there is a community center.
There are all kinds of people here: Catholics, Baptists, vodou believers, a judge, cops, teachers and homeless people. We probably have criminals who were released from the prisons because of the earthquake. Many go out to work every day. Some of the children go to the school; their parents have enough for the school fees.
There are three categories of people here. The first own property and are stuck; they have no place to go back to and have to save.
There is no mortgage system in Haiti; people build their homes over the course of 20 or 30 years. When they can afford to build more, they do.
Do you ever wonder why you see homes with the top floor not finished, looking like they have been there awhile? With the rebar sticking out of the top? That is because the family is saving money to finish the home.
In 45 seconds, their cars and their homes were lost.
With no mortgage and no home insurance, they have no way to start to rebuild at this time.
We have people who were homeless before the quake who feel lucky to have this; we have people who lost the home they owned and are trying to save enough to start to build another one.
We also have people who are renting their place to aid organizations and they stay here, in the camp. Part of the reason for that is that foreigners can't own property in Haiti. They must rent cars and housing.
We have people who could leave right now. They have homes they have decided to rent out and stay here for free. I cannot imagine why someone would choose to do that; this is no place to raise a family. This is no environment to live in.
Families are important in Haiti, but a lot of the family structure changed after the quake. There are a lot of unwed mothers in the camp. There are young girls - 9, 10, 11 years old - who are selling themselves for a plate of food. You can see them any night, around 8 p.m.
There are 11,000 adults and we have food for less than about 400 kids, one serving to take home and share with their families, and we don't have the money every day for the Lord's Kitchen. It is day by day, depending on donations. We have had it three days this week.
[The children are let in through the tall solid gates in batches of 30 or so, their hands marked with a pen as they come through, so they can't go through the line twice. They stand in two lines, one for girls and one for boys, and food servers, who live in the tent city themselves, keep the lines moving. The feeding station is managed so that ten children go through the line at a time. There is no shoving. It is closely managed. And when the food is gone, there are often still unfed children behind the gate, as there was the day we visited.]
This tent city is a big struggle for Grace International because we don't have the money to run it or control it and we are up against a time limit for squatter's rights. The government allows people to claim squatter's rights after three years and that is coming up next January. People know this and we have already had seven lawsuits brought just because we moved people from one tent site in the city to another.
There is a big crunch to get people off the property by next year, so we can rebuild our school and hospital. I pray. I don't know how we are going to do it.
You know the Sean Penn camp and what happened there. Penn rented the golf course for one and a half to two years, but he is not renting it anymore. Now, the owner is stuck with the problem of who is left living there and the squatter's rights coming up. Now, everyone is afraid to let people stay on their property. All landowners are afraid it will bite them in the butt.
Most of the effects of the earthquake are gone now.
The Haitians in the camp, we are a resilient people. We have had hurricanes, coups, epidemics and we always get back up and keep going.
The foreign aid that comes to the country is necessary, but the best way to do it is to partner with local operations. For long-term help, we need education. That is the lever.
There is no public schooling in Haiti. People must pay about $30 U.S. a month for school, which includes the school uniform, books and a meal at lunchtime.
[The U.S. Department of State clarifies the cost of education: Public education is free, when people can find it. The cost is still high for Haitian families who must pay for uniforms, textbooks, and supplies, but around 90 percent of primary schools are either private or parochial schools. Though Haitians place a high value on education, few can afford to send their children to secondary school and primary school enrollment is dropping due to economic conditions.]
Haitians are not stupid people. They know that education is what it's all about. They know it is the only way to improve their lives. It's common knowledge. But many Haitians cannot go straight through school, so it is not unusual for some Haitians to go to school for one year, then work for a year while another child in the family goes, then go back for a year. They take turns, so it is not unusual for a Haitian to graduate from high school at the age of 25.
[The literacy rate is still quite low; the United Nations reports that 49 percent of the population can read and write, at least at a basic level. The American literacy rate is 99 percent.]
In the short term, all these aid organizations have created a lot of dependency in Haiti. People get comfortable, even in a place like this. They get complacent. They lose their incentive. It is the most horrible thing that could happen to them. This is not a place to raise a family.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
ARTICLE - EVICTIONS MAR CANADA PROJECT
EVICTIONS MAR CANADA'S RESETTLEMENT PROJECT IN HAITI
(Embassy) - By Stuart Neatby
"I don't have any other place to go," said Narcysse Lud, as she stood in her makeshift wood-and-tarp shelter. She and her four-year-old daughter had been living in Champ de Mars, a tent camp located in the central plaza of Haiti's capital city.
"I would like to continue to live here, but they'll destroy my house," she said.
Port-au-Prince's Champ de Mars camp, the most visible of the hundreds of remaining camps of Haitians rendered homeless by the 2010 earthquake, saw its first set of forced evictions on April 4.
This should be of concern to those watching Canada's role in Haiti. The Champ de Mars relocation is, after all, Canada's showpiece of post-earthquake efforts in Haiti at a time when international governments and agencies are being heavily criticized for the slow pace of reconstruction.
The tent camp in Haiti's capital city fills the central plaza across the street from the collapsed National Palace, a key government building that used to house the office of Haiti's president.
About 21 camp residents, including Ms. Lud, woke up on March 29 to find their names on a notice warning that their makeshift shelters would be torn down. They were told they had three days to pick up all of their belongings and clear out of the camp.
The International Organization for Migration, which had maintained a census of camp residents, claimed that those to be evicted had not been within the camp during the last head count. As a result, the IOM said, the residents had no claim to stay in Champ de Mars, and the eviction was legal.
Days later, residents could only watch as local municipal workers dismantled and carted away the bits of tarp, plywood, and corrugated sheet metal that had served as their homes. Haitian National Police members, UN soldiers, and UN police officials oversaw the evictions.
This scene is not uncommon in Haiti. After the earthquake, residents in the devastated capital set up 606 camps in public parks, in soccer fields, along highways, and in any stretches of land that could be found. The total camp population peaked at 1.5 million, and currently sits at just below 500,000. The IOM reports that 64,721 residents have been evicted from 396 camps since 2010. About 94,632 face the threat of evictions, often carried out by landlords, municipal authorities, and the national police.
But the recent evictions at Champ de Mars are different from others in two ways.
For one, the camp, because of its proximity to the National Palace and its presence amid the monuments commemorating Haiti's founding slave revolution, is more high-profile than even much larger camps.
Also, these evictions happened as part of a resettlement operation meant to be a centrepiece of the Canadian government's role in Haiti's reconstruction. As a result, the IOM and, by extension, Canada are implicated in these evictions.
'Private property is sacred'
On the second anniversary of the earthquake, the Canadian government announced it would take a lead role in the Champ de Mars plaza resettlement.
In a press conference with Haitian President Michel Martelly on Jan. 11, International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda announced that Canada would resettle about 5,000 families, or up to 20,000 people, living in the camp. Ms. Oda committed $19.9 million to the project, and the IOM was assigned to oversee the resettlement.
Three months later, both Canada and its international partners claim that the Champ de Mars program has been a success.
Camp residents are being offered a payout of $500 US if they can find a residence and are willing to move their belongings out of the teeming camp. Residents will also be eligible for an additional $125 US after they have moved. Roughly 941 families have moved away from the camp into rental housing throughout Port-au-Prince.
According to the Canadian government, there are plans to re-establish 500 informal camp businesses, train 50 entrepreneurs, and create 2,000 construction jobs. Camp residents who own a house damaged by the earthquake will be given a larger subsidy to rebuild it.
It all sounds good. But none of the residents interviewed by a Canada Haiti Action Network delegation to Haiti had heard of anything other than the $500 subsidy. Most complained that this money was hardly enough to find a small one-room apartment, forcing many to move into unsafe neighbourhoods.
"It's a bad program," said Carlos Jean-Charles, a Champ de Mars resident who sells paintings in front of the National Palace, which he refers to as "the devil's house."
Mr. Jean-Charles found a small room with no bathroom for his nine-member family after receiving the subsidy. But he continues to live in Champ de Mars because the house is too small.
"Canada gives a lot of money to make us leave. [But] some people over there, they have seven, eight, nine members of their family. They have a small house for one year," he said.
The IOM's priority is to clear residents from the Champ de Mars camp as quickly as possible. The camp is crowded, conditions are squalid, and violent crime and rape are common.
"Try living in a tent for a day," said Leonard Doyle, IOM spokesperson. "Who wouldn't want to move out of there in a hurry?"
The rush to clear Champ de Mars is also because it is an embarrassment, a visual testament to the slow pace of Haiti's earthquake recovery despite the billions of dollars invested by the world's wealthiest governments.
"Private property is sacred," said Clément Belizaire, director of the Haitian government's Division of Housing and Neighbourhood Rehabilitation.
Mr. Belizaire had little sympathy for Champ de Mars residents who are being evicted, and claimed they are delaying restoration of the public plaza. He said that the evicted residents are fraudulently trying to take advantage of the subsidy program.
"This would never be allowed in Canada or the US," he said.
The Canadian International Development Agency answered general questions about the Champ de Mars project, but an interview with Ms. Oda could be not arranged before press time.
An issue of housing rights
At the heart of the issue of forced evictions is the need for consultation and recourse for camp residents. The IOM has said that the evicted residents were not in their tents on the morning of Dec. 6, 2011, when the most recent count of camp households was conducted, even though many had been registered in a 2010 count.
Evicted residents interviewed had a variety of reasons for not being in the camp that night, ranging from hospital stays to visits to family.
"It's sad, but at the end of the day they weren't able to benefit from the program because it wasn't earmarked for them," said Mr. Doyle.
When asked if the evicted residents were registered in other IOM camps in Port-au-Prince, he responded: "Who knows? What we do know is that we had a registration process in that camp and they were not part of it."
The issue then is one of legal recourse. What options are there for Champ de Mars residents who may have been missed or miscounted during the IOM census? What of those who live with large families in one tent or share their tent with another family? Should they have access to more than one $500 subsidy?
There seems to be no avenues for camp residents to have any influence over the IOM process.
Beyond consultation and recourse is the question of long-term housing. The Champ de Mars program includes no plan for construction of new housing.
"I would buy state lands and build sturdy social housing," said Francois Joseph, a Champ de Mars resident who lives with six other family members, when asked what should be done to resettle residents.
"I think that's the solution."
Stuart Neatby recently travelled to Haiti as part of a self-financed delegation with the Canada Haiti Action Network, a watchdog group that critiques the role of Canadian and international actors in Haitian reconstruction. CHAN advocates for a reconstruction that it says would more appropriately promote Haitian sovereignty.
(Embassy) - By Stuart Neatby
"I don't have any other place to go," said Narcysse Lud, as she stood in her makeshift wood-and-tarp shelter. She and her four-year-old daughter had been living in Champ de Mars, a tent camp located in the central plaza of Haiti's capital city.
"I would like to continue to live here, but they'll destroy my house," she said.
Port-au-Prince's Champ de Mars camp, the most visible of the hundreds of remaining camps of Haitians rendered homeless by the 2010 earthquake, saw its first set of forced evictions on April 4.
This should be of concern to those watching Canada's role in Haiti. The Champ de Mars relocation is, after all, Canada's showpiece of post-earthquake efforts in Haiti at a time when international governments and agencies are being heavily criticized for the slow pace of reconstruction.
The tent camp in Haiti's capital city fills the central plaza across the street from the collapsed National Palace, a key government building that used to house the office of Haiti's president.
About 21 camp residents, including Ms. Lud, woke up on March 29 to find their names on a notice warning that their makeshift shelters would be torn down. They were told they had three days to pick up all of their belongings and clear out of the camp.
The International Organization for Migration, which had maintained a census of camp residents, claimed that those to be evicted had not been within the camp during the last head count. As a result, the IOM said, the residents had no claim to stay in Champ de Mars, and the eviction was legal.
Days later, residents could only watch as local municipal workers dismantled and carted away the bits of tarp, plywood, and corrugated sheet metal that had served as their homes. Haitian National Police members, UN soldiers, and UN police officials oversaw the evictions.
This scene is not uncommon in Haiti. After the earthquake, residents in the devastated capital set up 606 camps in public parks, in soccer fields, along highways, and in any stretches of land that could be found. The total camp population peaked at 1.5 million, and currently sits at just below 500,000. The IOM reports that 64,721 residents have been evicted from 396 camps since 2010. About 94,632 face the threat of evictions, often carried out by landlords, municipal authorities, and the national police.
But the recent evictions at Champ de Mars are different from others in two ways.
For one, the camp, because of its proximity to the National Palace and its presence amid the monuments commemorating Haiti's founding slave revolution, is more high-profile than even much larger camps.
Also, these evictions happened as part of a resettlement operation meant to be a centrepiece of the Canadian government's role in Haiti's reconstruction. As a result, the IOM and, by extension, Canada are implicated in these evictions.
'Private property is sacred'
On the second anniversary of the earthquake, the Canadian government announced it would take a lead role in the Champ de Mars plaza resettlement.
In a press conference with Haitian President Michel Martelly on Jan. 11, International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda announced that Canada would resettle about 5,000 families, or up to 20,000 people, living in the camp. Ms. Oda committed $19.9 million to the project, and the IOM was assigned to oversee the resettlement.
Three months later, both Canada and its international partners claim that the Champ de Mars program has been a success.
Camp residents are being offered a payout of $500 US if they can find a residence and are willing to move their belongings out of the teeming camp. Residents will also be eligible for an additional $125 US after they have moved. Roughly 941 families have moved away from the camp into rental housing throughout Port-au-Prince.
According to the Canadian government, there are plans to re-establish 500 informal camp businesses, train 50 entrepreneurs, and create 2,000 construction jobs. Camp residents who own a house damaged by the earthquake will be given a larger subsidy to rebuild it.
It all sounds good. But none of the residents interviewed by a Canada Haiti Action Network delegation to Haiti had heard of anything other than the $500 subsidy. Most complained that this money was hardly enough to find a small one-room apartment, forcing many to move into unsafe neighbourhoods.
"It's a bad program," said Carlos Jean-Charles, a Champ de Mars resident who sells paintings in front of the National Palace, which he refers to as "the devil's house."
Mr. Jean-Charles found a small room with no bathroom for his nine-member family after receiving the subsidy. But he continues to live in Champ de Mars because the house is too small.
"Canada gives a lot of money to make us leave. [But] some people over there, they have seven, eight, nine members of their family. They have a small house for one year," he said.
The IOM's priority is to clear residents from the Champ de Mars camp as quickly as possible. The camp is crowded, conditions are squalid, and violent crime and rape are common.
"Try living in a tent for a day," said Leonard Doyle, IOM spokesperson. "Who wouldn't want to move out of there in a hurry?"
The rush to clear Champ de Mars is also because it is an embarrassment, a visual testament to the slow pace of Haiti's earthquake recovery despite the billions of dollars invested by the world's wealthiest governments.
"Private property is sacred," said Clément Belizaire, director of the Haitian government's Division of Housing and Neighbourhood Rehabilitation.
Mr. Belizaire had little sympathy for Champ de Mars residents who are being evicted, and claimed they are delaying restoration of the public plaza. He said that the evicted residents are fraudulently trying to take advantage of the subsidy program.
"This would never be allowed in Canada or the US," he said.
The Canadian International Development Agency answered general questions about the Champ de Mars project, but an interview with Ms. Oda could be not arranged before press time.
An issue of housing rights
At the heart of the issue of forced evictions is the need for consultation and recourse for camp residents. The IOM has said that the evicted residents were not in their tents on the morning of Dec. 6, 2011, when the most recent count of camp households was conducted, even though many had been registered in a 2010 count.
Evicted residents interviewed had a variety of reasons for not being in the camp that night, ranging from hospital stays to visits to family.
"It's sad, but at the end of the day they weren't able to benefit from the program because it wasn't earmarked for them," said Mr. Doyle.
When asked if the evicted residents were registered in other IOM camps in Port-au-Prince, he responded: "Who knows? What we do know is that we had a registration process in that camp and they were not part of it."
The issue then is one of legal recourse. What options are there for Champ de Mars residents who may have been missed or miscounted during the IOM census? What of those who live with large families in one tent or share their tent with another family? Should they have access to more than one $500 subsidy?
There seems to be no avenues for camp residents to have any influence over the IOM process.
Beyond consultation and recourse is the question of long-term housing. The Champ de Mars program includes no plan for construction of new housing.
"I would buy state lands and build sturdy social housing," said Francois Joseph, a Champ de Mars resident who lives with six other family members, when asked what should be done to resettle residents.
"I think that's the solution."
Stuart Neatby recently travelled to Haiti as part of a self-financed delegation with the Canada Haiti Action Network, a watchdog group that critiques the role of Canadian and international actors in Haitian reconstruction. CHAN advocates for a reconstruction that it says would more appropriately promote Haitian sovereignty.
Friday, March 30, 2012
ARTICLE - FIGHTING FIRE IN HAITI
FIGHTING FIRE IN HAITI
(Haiti Rewired) - By Alexis Erkert
When police and the landowner commanded Michelène Pierre to vacate her tent on a Sunday afternoon so that they could light it on fire, she responded: “If you want to light me on fire along with this entire camp, go ahead. I’m not leaving.” The police bypassed her tent, but continued to threaten other residents of Camp Kozbami, setting fire to six tents.
Camp Kozbami is the fifth camp to be arsoned in two months. As landowners and the government push to close camps inhabited by those displaced by the earthquake that rocked Haiti 26 months ago, a reported 94,632 individuals are facing forced eviction.
Residents of the 660 displacement camps scattered throughout the Port-au-Prince area are experiencing increasing levels of threats and violence. Repeated acts of arson have both killed six people and displaced hundreds. Though cramped living conditions and a lack of available water during Haiti’s dry season have made camps vulnerable to accidental fires, camp organizers believe that all the recent fires have been deliberate.
Until her own tent was burned down, Arlette Célissaint lived in Camp Lycèe Toussaint. At a press conference on Friday, March 23, Célissaint and four other camp residents described the horror of waking up at 2:00 in the morning to a camp engulfed in flames. “Fire took over... We were all in our tents, all asleep and suddenly it was, ‘Run!’ and everyone started to get up and run. There were people burned on the spot and six went to the hospital…”
That morning, 96 of approximately 120 shelters were burned and five people, including a mother and her three children, were killed. Families lost everything they had managed to salvage from the earthquake and the little they have saved since, including money and legal documents. To date, none of the relevant government authorities have launched an investigation into the crimes. Neither the government nor aid agencies have stepped up to provide these doubly-displaced—and doubly-traumatized—communities with adequate disaster assistance.
“Look out for us.” Looking directly into a TV journalist’s video camera, Marie Charles, another former Camp Lycèe Toussaint resident said quietly, “We ask the government to look out for us. We’re people, not animals, but the conditions that we’re living in are not fit for people.”
Camp residents like Célissaint and Charles are raising the volume of their denunciations about the fires and about evictions in general with protests, press conferences and letters to the government. Others, like the families in Camp Maïs Gate, are physically refusing to move. Though paid thugs have been harassing them for weeks, families refuse to leave until they are provided with an adequate alternative.
No such alternative yet exists. Though the government is touting a plan called ‘16/6’ as a solution to Haiti’s housing crisis, it does not address the underlying structural challenges to relocation by making land available to camp dwellers for permanent resettlement or building houses. Instead, ‘16/6’ targets six camps, or approximately 5% of the displaced population, providing families $500 apiece to relocate into 16 communities. Critics say implementation of the plan has been rife with corruption and that it has accelerated rates of violent forced evictions in other camps. Though the ‘16/6’ model is being replicated by aid groups in a handful of additional camps, there is still a glaring absence of any comprehensive housing plan.
Human rights advocates and camp residents point to the eviction of a camp called Place Jeremie in late December as a prime example of the corruption and disregard for displaced peoples endemic in the relocation process. Though families were supposed to receive $500 apiece to relocate, police came to the camp in the middle of the night, armed with machetes and batons, destroyed tents and violently evicted the families living there. The Force for Reflection and Action on Housing (FRAKKA) reports that the majority of residents received $25 in compensation.
Regardless of whether families receive $25 or $500, there is no evidence that they do indeed wind up in safer, more dignifying circumstances once they’ve relocated. Housing in Haiti is expensive and the numbers make it clear that there is not enough undamaged housing available in Port-au-Prince to absorb displaced people, 80 percent of whom were renters before the earthquake. According to data from the International Organization for Migration, current shortages will leave more than 300,000 without housing.
With the displaced population down to 490,545 from 1.2 million just after the earthquake, Antonal Mortimé of the Platform of Haitian Human Rights Organizations (POHDH) wonders where people who have left the camps have gone. “Have they moved to the countryside? Back into their houses? Are enough new houses being built? Are new camps springing up? Or are people returning to fissured and unsound homes? No-one knows.”
Thus, an assembly of local human rights groups called the Right to Housing Collective is supporting camp dwellers in a call for a comprehensive national housing plan that includes public housing for the displaced. In the short-term, they are calling for an end to the violence plaguing camps and for a moratorium on evictions.
“We are struggling alongside the people whose rights are being trampled, to create a movement that forces the government into taking responsibility for its citizens…” said Jackson Doliscar. Doliscar is a community organizer with FRAKKA, a coalition of 26 camp committees and grassroots organizations and a key member of the Right to Housing Collective.
“People are unaware of their specific rights, especially as displaced people. They don’t think that they have the right to ask anything of their government… That’s beginning to change… Many camps are ready to join hands.” And indeed, the arson attacks have renewed camp dwellers and rights advocates’ sense of urgency.
During Friday’s press conference, Mortimé reminded his government that the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement require that they make every effort to guarantee the right to life and security of all earthquake victims.
Mortimé adds, “We aren’t just denouncing, we are pronouncing. We are proposing and advocating for solutions that come from displaced people themselves and we will not give up on pressuring the government to take responsibility for meeting these demands.”
(Haiti Rewired) - By Alexis Erkert
When police and the landowner commanded Michelène Pierre to vacate her tent on a Sunday afternoon so that they could light it on fire, she responded: “If you want to light me on fire along with this entire camp, go ahead. I’m not leaving.” The police bypassed her tent, but continued to threaten other residents of Camp Kozbami, setting fire to six tents.
Camp Kozbami is the fifth camp to be arsoned in two months. As landowners and the government push to close camps inhabited by those displaced by the earthquake that rocked Haiti 26 months ago, a reported 94,632 individuals are facing forced eviction.
Residents of the 660 displacement camps scattered throughout the Port-au-Prince area are experiencing increasing levels of threats and violence. Repeated acts of arson have both killed six people and displaced hundreds. Though cramped living conditions and a lack of available water during Haiti’s dry season have made camps vulnerable to accidental fires, camp organizers believe that all the recent fires have been deliberate.
Until her own tent was burned down, Arlette Célissaint lived in Camp Lycèe Toussaint. At a press conference on Friday, March 23, Célissaint and four other camp residents described the horror of waking up at 2:00 in the morning to a camp engulfed in flames. “Fire took over... We were all in our tents, all asleep and suddenly it was, ‘Run!’ and everyone started to get up and run. There were people burned on the spot and six went to the hospital…”
That morning, 96 of approximately 120 shelters were burned and five people, including a mother and her three children, were killed. Families lost everything they had managed to salvage from the earthquake and the little they have saved since, including money and legal documents. To date, none of the relevant government authorities have launched an investigation into the crimes. Neither the government nor aid agencies have stepped up to provide these doubly-displaced—and doubly-traumatized—communities with adequate disaster assistance.
“Look out for us.” Looking directly into a TV journalist’s video camera, Marie Charles, another former Camp Lycèe Toussaint resident said quietly, “We ask the government to look out for us. We’re people, not animals, but the conditions that we’re living in are not fit for people.”
Camp residents like Célissaint and Charles are raising the volume of their denunciations about the fires and about evictions in general with protests, press conferences and letters to the government. Others, like the families in Camp Maïs Gate, are physically refusing to move. Though paid thugs have been harassing them for weeks, families refuse to leave until they are provided with an adequate alternative.
No such alternative yet exists. Though the government is touting a plan called ‘16/6’ as a solution to Haiti’s housing crisis, it does not address the underlying structural challenges to relocation by making land available to camp dwellers for permanent resettlement or building houses. Instead, ‘16/6’ targets six camps, or approximately 5% of the displaced population, providing families $500 apiece to relocate into 16 communities. Critics say implementation of the plan has been rife with corruption and that it has accelerated rates of violent forced evictions in other camps. Though the ‘16/6’ model is being replicated by aid groups in a handful of additional camps, there is still a glaring absence of any comprehensive housing plan.
Human rights advocates and camp residents point to the eviction of a camp called Place Jeremie in late December as a prime example of the corruption and disregard for displaced peoples endemic in the relocation process. Though families were supposed to receive $500 apiece to relocate, police came to the camp in the middle of the night, armed with machetes and batons, destroyed tents and violently evicted the families living there. The Force for Reflection and Action on Housing (FRAKKA) reports that the majority of residents received $25 in compensation.
Regardless of whether families receive $25 or $500, there is no evidence that they do indeed wind up in safer, more dignifying circumstances once they’ve relocated. Housing in Haiti is expensive and the numbers make it clear that there is not enough undamaged housing available in Port-au-Prince to absorb displaced people, 80 percent of whom were renters before the earthquake. According to data from the International Organization for Migration, current shortages will leave more than 300,000 without housing.
With the displaced population down to 490,545 from 1.2 million just after the earthquake, Antonal Mortimé of the Platform of Haitian Human Rights Organizations (POHDH) wonders where people who have left the camps have gone. “Have they moved to the countryside? Back into their houses? Are enough new houses being built? Are new camps springing up? Or are people returning to fissured and unsound homes? No-one knows.”
Thus, an assembly of local human rights groups called the Right to Housing Collective is supporting camp dwellers in a call for a comprehensive national housing plan that includes public housing for the displaced. In the short-term, they are calling for an end to the violence plaguing camps and for a moratorium on evictions.
“We are struggling alongside the people whose rights are being trampled, to create a movement that forces the government into taking responsibility for its citizens…” said Jackson Doliscar. Doliscar is a community organizer with FRAKKA, a coalition of 26 camp committees and grassroots organizations and a key member of the Right to Housing Collective.
“People are unaware of their specific rights, especially as displaced people. They don’t think that they have the right to ask anything of their government… That’s beginning to change… Many camps are ready to join hands.” And indeed, the arson attacks have renewed camp dwellers and rights advocates’ sense of urgency.
During Friday’s press conference, Mortimé reminded his government that the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement require that they make every effort to guarantee the right to life and security of all earthquake victims.
Mortimé adds, “We aren’t just denouncing, we are pronouncing. We are proposing and advocating for solutions that come from displaced people themselves and we will not give up on pressuring the government to take responsibility for meeting these demands.”
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
ARTICLE - 1,300 FAMILIES - EVICTION THREAT
1,300 FAMILIES THREATENED WITH EVICTION
(Haiti Libre) -
In Lamentin 54, the displaced hosted on the Grâce village site since January 12, 2010, denounce the threat of forced evictions, which they have been subjected for 9 months from the owner of this vast field, the Reverend Pastor Joël Jeune. During a press conference on October 28, 2011, in Port-au-Prince, the inhabitants of this camp have pointed out a certain Marc Antoine, who, they say, is working for this pastor to force them to leave the area.
These displaced people who now number 1,300 families, have indicated that the site owner has already forced to leave more than 500 of them in the last six months. "We were 1,800 affected families who lived in this area since January 12. The pastor from time to time tends to reduce the number with the help of agents of the National Police," said Marcel Germain, a resident of the site.
They also denounced a "contribution of 55 gourds" that the person responsible for Grâce Village requires of them each month under the pretext of doing sanitation work within this IDP camp. "To this end, they presented some copies of their records of payment. "Since the day we have been here, we are forced to pay a contribution of 55 gourdes. We question the use that was made of this money because in this space, the living conditions are poor," denounced Merzélia who is living there as well.
"We can no longer accept the poor relations during the forced evictions carried out in a cascade in the IDP camps of the country. Our position is particularly understandable since the Haitian Constitution obligates the Haitian State to provide the son and daughters of the country adequate housing" "recalled Ms. Monique Fanfan, a resident of the camp.
For his part Doliscar Jackson, a member of the Collective of organizations for the Defense of housing rights, a speaker at the conference, has invited the owners of the IDPs camps, to allow sufficient time to the displaced before evicting them.
(Haiti Libre) -
In Lamentin 54, the displaced hosted on the Grâce village site since January 12, 2010, denounce the threat of forced evictions, which they have been subjected for 9 months from the owner of this vast field, the Reverend Pastor Joël Jeune. During a press conference on October 28, 2011, in Port-au-Prince, the inhabitants of this camp have pointed out a certain Marc Antoine, who, they say, is working for this pastor to force them to leave the area.
These displaced people who now number 1,300 families, have indicated that the site owner has already forced to leave more than 500 of them in the last six months. "We were 1,800 affected families who lived in this area since January 12. The pastor from time to time tends to reduce the number with the help of agents of the National Police," said Marcel Germain, a resident of the site.
They also denounced a "contribution of 55 gourds" that the person responsible for Grâce Village requires of them each month under the pretext of doing sanitation work within this IDP camp. "To this end, they presented some copies of their records of payment. "Since the day we have been here, we are forced to pay a contribution of 55 gourdes. We question the use that was made of this money because in this space, the living conditions are poor," denounced Merzélia who is living there as well.
"We can no longer accept the poor relations during the forced evictions carried out in a cascade in the IDP camps of the country. Our position is particularly understandable since the Haitian Constitution obligates the Haitian State to provide the son and daughters of the country adequate housing" "recalled Ms. Monique Fanfan, a resident of the camp.
For his part Doliscar Jackson, a member of the Collective of organizations for the Defense of housing rights, a speaker at the conference, has invited the owners of the IDPs camps, to allow sufficient time to the displaced before evicting them.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
ARTICLE - 1/4 OF REFUGE CAMPS FACE EVICTION
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.
(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.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
ARTICLE - THE FIRST TREE IN CORAIL TAKES ROOT
HAITI: THE FIRST TREE IN CORAIL TAKES ROOT
(World Vision)
In the massive, dusty field of coarse gravel that houses the tent city of Corail-Cesselesse, the green plant outside Nanette Lanoix’s tent can be seen a long way off.
It’s too soon to call it a tree, but it represents a new start for her.
“Everything we need for now is here at Corail,” says Nanette, “only it’s very dry and hot.
“We thought some plants would make a difference, plus when they get bigger there will be some shade and some fruit too.”
Nanette, her husband and three children were among the 50,000 survivors who sought refuge at a makeshift camp at a golf course after January’s earthquake.
As Haiti’s rainy season nears, there was an urgent need to move those most at risk from floods and mudslides to a more secure location.
The result of negotiations for land, shelter and support for these at-risk families was Corail-Cesselesse, a camp built outside the capital to house up to 5,000 people safely while they wait for new homes to be constructed.
Shoots
At first, the family was hesitant to relocate. Nanette’s husband decided to go ahead to check whether it was a good idea for them.
“On the day of his visit, he rang me and said ‘Come tomorrow’,” says Nanette. “And then he planted the first tree.”
The tree is a papaya cutting, about knee height. Nanette’s teenage daughter rolls her eyes and says the plant won’t make it, but Nanette disagrees.
“There are some new shoots already,” she says. “We think it will live.”
Rain
Nanette arrived with the children the next day, bringing more seedlings – a tiny lemon, an even smaller lime, and another papaya shoot. They’ve been in the ground around a week – by now, they must be putting down roots.
The family won’t need to water the plants for a while. It rains for most of the night, every night. Nanette says her tent has leaked some nights, other nights it has been OK. She’s surprisingly cheerful about it.
“We keep our food off the floor to keep it dry. We’ve had to hang out our clothes a few times. Things dry quickly though. It can’t be helped.”
Corail won’t be home for too much longer. World Vision is partnering with two other organisations to build transitional homes, with concrete foundations, roofs, rooms and walls – and there will be space for a garden.
The organisation also plans to create small farming opportunities as part of livelihood solutions for the people of Corail community.
Nanette says she will leave her trees here when she moves.
“I don’t mind doing that,” she says. “Somebody else can enjoy them.”
She looks around at the stark surroundings, then shrugs and smiles.
“We made the decision to come here,” she says, “so we may as well make the most of it.”
(World Vision)
In the massive, dusty field of coarse gravel that houses the tent city of Corail-Cesselesse, the green plant outside Nanette Lanoix’s tent can be seen a long way off.
It’s too soon to call it a tree, but it represents a new start for her.
“Everything we need for now is here at Corail,” says Nanette, “only it’s very dry and hot.
“We thought some plants would make a difference, plus when they get bigger there will be some shade and some fruit too.”
Nanette, her husband and three children were among the 50,000 survivors who sought refuge at a makeshift camp at a golf course after January’s earthquake.
As Haiti’s rainy season nears, there was an urgent need to move those most at risk from floods and mudslides to a more secure location.
The result of negotiations for land, shelter and support for these at-risk families was Corail-Cesselesse, a camp built outside the capital to house up to 5,000 people safely while they wait for new homes to be constructed.
Shoots
At first, the family was hesitant to relocate. Nanette’s husband decided to go ahead to check whether it was a good idea for them.
“On the day of his visit, he rang me and said ‘Come tomorrow’,” says Nanette. “And then he planted the first tree.”
The tree is a papaya cutting, about knee height. Nanette’s teenage daughter rolls her eyes and says the plant won’t make it, but Nanette disagrees.
“There are some new shoots already,” she says. “We think it will live.”
Rain
Nanette arrived with the children the next day, bringing more seedlings – a tiny lemon, an even smaller lime, and another papaya shoot. They’ve been in the ground around a week – by now, they must be putting down roots.
The family won’t need to water the plants for a while. It rains for most of the night, every night. Nanette says her tent has leaked some nights, other nights it has been OK. She’s surprisingly cheerful about it.
“We keep our food off the floor to keep it dry. We’ve had to hang out our clothes a few times. Things dry quickly though. It can’t be helped.”
Corail won’t be home for too much longer. World Vision is partnering with two other organisations to build transitional homes, with concrete foundations, roofs, rooms and walls – and there will be space for a garden.
The organisation also plans to create small farming opportunities as part of livelihood solutions for the people of Corail community.
Nanette says she will leave her trees here when she moves.
“I don’t mind doing that,” she says. “Somebody else can enjoy them.”
She looks around at the stark surroundings, then shrugs and smiles.
“We made the decision to come here,” she says, “so we may as well make the most of it.”
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