Haiti: IDPs face eviction as passing storm highlights ongoing vulnerability

Around 130,000 people displaced by the January 2010 earthquake are threatened with forced eviction. Of the 2.1 million initial IDPs, over 630,000 were still living in 1,000 camps and informal settlements at the end of May.

In mid-July, the mayor of Port-au-Prince evicted more than 400 families from a camp inside the Sylvio Cator Stadium. Each evicted family was given the equivalent of about $250, but the relocation proposed put these IDPs in a far more vulnerable position than when they were in the camp. On 3 August, the last of almost 300 families were evicted from Camp Django in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Delmas. The IDPs in Camp Django were offered $125 to leave. Some families accepted the funding, but others who protested its inadequacy were reportedly threatened and beaten by police and agents of the landowner, and their shelters and the camps latrines were destroyed.

The UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights called for development efforts to be based on people's rights, to avoid discrimination and to be guided by transparency and participation of beneficiaries in decision-making.

In early August, Tropical Storm Emily brought heavy rains and further misery to IDPs, even though it did not make landfall in the southern peninsula as feared last week. A number of the earthquake IDP camps are located in flood risk zones or on vulnerable hillsides. Extensive deforestation and poor infrastructure make Haiti particularly vulnerable to heavy rain, and preparedness in the IDP camps is weak. The hurricane season will continue until the end of November.