The Haitian Civil Protection Office is forcing displaced survivors of the 2010 earthquake out of the improvised shelters they have lived in for three years, offering them no alternative housing.
According to Amnesty International, the evictions are ongoing, with the Haitian government promising evictees 20,000 gourdes (approximately $473 USD) per affected family, to find new housing. Only around 20 percent of evictees, however, have received the meager benefits, with others claiming that government officials are mainly doling out funds to cronies, leaving many without shelter and without money to rebuild.
Part of the problem stems from a shortage of funds, with most of the international relief aid that nations promised in the aftermath of the earthquake, never materializing. The U.S., for example, has provided only approximately 30 percent of promised relief aid., Canada, Â by contrast, has given over 90 percent of what it promised.
Canadian author and activist Yves Engler, however, asserts that Canada’s contributions stem from self-interest, strategically supporting that nation’s mining interests in Haiti. While international human rights groups are trying to keep the ongoing plight of Haitian earthquake victims in the news, most of the global press has moved on, essentially dismissing their plight as old news.
Source:
Bougher, J. (November 12, 2012). Tent camp evictions on the rise in Haiti. Retrieved March 13, 2013,from Global Post website: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/haiti/121109/tent-camp-evictions-the-rise-haiti-video
Supporting Links:
Haiti: Hundreds of families left homeless in new wave of evictions. (February 4, 2013). Amnesty International: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=20609
Haiti, Human Rights: Families evicted from the Place Ste Anne struggle to find the promised allocation. (January 22, 2013). Alter Presse: http://www.alterpresse.org/spip.php?article13979
Haiti: Three years on from earthquake housing situation ‘catastrophic’. (January 11, 2013). Amnesty International: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=20559
Jay, P. (2013, January 13). Canadian aid to Haiti tied to mining interests [Videoblog post]. Â Â http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=Â Â Â Â view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=9278 – .UUDi_VeNOSo
Provost, C. (2012, January 12). Haiti earthquake: Where has the aid money gone? The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/datablog/2012/jan/12/haiti-earthquake-aid-money-data
Spraos, H. (2012, December 10). To live like a human being. Oxfam-Quebec: Â http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/viv-tankou-moun-haiti-summary-101212-en.pdf
Stop forced evictions from earthquake survivor camps in Haiti. (2012, December 10). Canada. Haiti Action Network website: http://canadahaitiaction.ca/content/stop-forced-evictions-earthquake-survivor-camps-haiti
Weinberg, B. (Ed.). (January 29, 2013). Haiti: evictions of quake survivors continue. World War 4 Report: http://ww4report.com/node/11929
Student Researchers: John Schreckengost, Kathrine Brownell, and Kiasia Truluck (SUNY Buffalo State)
Faculty Evaluator: Dr. Michael I. Niman (SUNY Buffalo State)