“We've Been Forgotten": Conditions in Haiti's Displacement Camps Eight Months After the Earthquake
September 24, 2010. The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti has just produced a 48 page report on the conditions of survivors of the January 12 earthquake. Some of its findings are based on a comprehensive survey of 52 families in six internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in the Port au Prince region. The report also outlines the legal and humanitarian obligations of the Haitian government and donor countries and agencies. The report syas there are 1.3 million people living in 1,300 makeshift IDP camps in and around Port au Prince.
You can read and download the report from the website of the IJDH or go to the "Human Rights Reports" page of this website for the same link. Below is the Executive Summary of the report.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report presents findings from a five month follow-up of 90 Haitian families displaced by the January 12, 2010 earthquake. The initial survey was conducted in six displacement camps in February 2010. The resulting report, Neglect in the Encampments: Haiti’s Second-Wave Humanitarian Disaster, was presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington, D.C. on March 23, 2010.
A second survey conducted in July compared how living conditions in the camps measured against human rights standards set forth under the Haitian Constitution and international law on the treatment of displaced persons. Fifty two of the original families were located and interviewed, yielding the following evidence of systematic human rights violations:
* Food. 75% of families had someone go an entire day without eating in the past week and over 50% indicated that their children did not eat for an entire day
* Clean Water. 44% of families primarily drank untreated water
* Sanitary Environment. 27% of families defecated in a container, a plastic bag, or on open ground in the camps
* Housing. 78% of families lived without enclosed shelter
* Health. There were 245 independently listed health problems among 45 families
* Protection From and During Displacement. 94% of families felt they could not return home while 48% had been threatened with forced eviction since the earthquake
* Self-Sufficiency. 37% of families did not have a single family member with a fulltime job, a part-time job, a cash-for-work arrangement, or self-employment
Our results indicate that aid has slowed and even stopped in each of the six camps surveyed, making life far worse for most of the families. This report makes the following nine recommendations:
1. Quickly disburse aid necessary to achieve and maintain a life of basic dignity
2. Follow the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement
3. Promote participation from camp residents in needs assessment and aid distribution
4. Require that donors be accountable to aid recipients
5. Coordinate with the Government of Haiti
6. Encourage self-sufficiency through employment opportunities
7. Source food aid locally to support local economy
8. Improve and expand provision of sturdy, safe shelter for camp residents
9. End the policy and practice of forced evictions We encourage the Government of Haiti, donor states and international aid agencies to allocate more of their resources to meet the basic needs of Haitians living in camps and adopt a rights-based approach to relief and reconstruction.