News and Analysis

Prime Minister Lamothe on Tour: Lying to Keep Haiti "Open for Business"

2013-04-26T16:12:34Z

Haiti's Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe speaks at Columbia University, photo from his Facebook page.By: Etant Dupain

Last week, Haiti’s Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe traveled to United States in what he called an official trip, although what defines an “official” trip for the current Haitian government is unclear. During his entire trip, the prime minister’s staff tweeted the details of his travels and speeches, making it obvious through the interaction with participants at various events that he is completely out of touch with the real situation in the country.

The way the Lamothe describes Haiti today is false and it is dangerous for the country. The propaganda being peddled to support the notion that “Haiti is open for business” doesn’t match the reality. Is Lamothe incompetent or is he just a fool enjoying the privilege of being a Prime Minister in a government that is not serious about anything but getting more stamps on their passports and building their internet following?

"If they put me out of the camp I will put my tent in the middle of the street", Camp Gaston Margon

2013-04-17T19:10:03Z

From Bri Kouri Nouvèl Gaye

Camp Village Gaston Magon in Mariani/Kafou has 850 families living under the threat of eviction since the month of November 2012

150 families have already been evicted from one part of the camp.

Audio 1: When the rain falls we have to climbed onto the beds because the water floods everything, the space where I make food is always the worst.

The camp hasn’t had toilets or water since the beginning of 2012

Audio 2: The landowner says he will come and everyone must leave the camp, because when he comes it will be with a tractor to destroy the camp

Question: Where will you go when the camp is destroyed?

Audio 3: If I had a place to go I would have gone there already because the situation here is so difficult.

Audio 4: We have been living in this camp for three years and two months since the earthquake. We have faced a lot of threats from the landowner because we are on private land. One time they came to destroy the camp and they ripped our tents, we rebuilt the tents again. I used to live in a first part of the camp and when they forced us to leave I came here. The landowner wants the land to build his business.

We stay here because we have nowhere to go. When it rains we have a lot of problems and in the night it’s as though we live under streetlights because our tarps are no good. If the government relocates us from the camps it would be a miracle.

Auido 5: If they put me out of the camp I will put my tent in the middle of the street because I have nowhere else to go. I don’t have my husband, I have six children and only God can help me. My children don’t work, they are school age, if they put me out they are throwing me into the street because the only option is to rent a house. My house was destroyed and I have no money to rent a house

Urgent Action for Earthquake Survivor Camp Gaston Margon (Magwon)

2013-04-17T18:48:45Z

A child at Camp Gaston Margon (Magwon)UA: 69/13 Index: AMR 36/006/2013 Haiti Date: 22 March 2013

URGENT ACTION: DISPLACED FAMILIES FACE FORCED EVICTION IN HAITI

Hundreds of families who were left homeless after the January 2010 earthquake face imminent forced eviction from their makeshift camp in the Port-au-Prince municipality of Carrefour. Amnesty International is concerned that if evicted they will once again be left homeless.

Approximately 650 families living in Gaston Magwon displacement camp in the Port-au-Prince municipality of Carrefour are currently under the threat of forced eviction. Already, on 15 February, 150 families were forcibly evicted from the camp by police officers and a group of men carrying machetes and knives who were accompanied by a local justice of the peace. The armed men began destroying the families’ shelters, while some people were still inside, and attacked individuals that attempted to stop them. The police also shot their firearms into the air to intimidate the families. One infant was reported to have suffered injuries when armed men and police damaged a shelter with the child still inside. The men reportedly threatened to burn down the entire camp and to kill the children of families who did not move.

Popular Organizations Announce Protest Against Hunger and Cost of Living on April 11

2013-04-06T19:12:03Z

Heads Together of Popular Organizations

Port-au-Prince, April 3, 2013

Press Conference

Tèt Kole Oganizasyon Popilè (Heads Together of Popular Organizations) have taken a long time to observe the political, economic and social situation of the country since the government of Martelly-Lamothe has run the country in light of Haiti’s recent ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights dedicated to these rights. Tèt Kole has observed this far right power for a long time, which does not have the ability to respect or enforce a set of legal democratic values, including: 1) the lack of elections; 2) destroying the Republican Institution; 3) protecting the interests of imperialist countries and then reinforcing the bourgeoisie’s projects that have always taken advantage of the people; and 4) attempting to bring back the old dictatorial regime. We have realized that the quality of life of the people in popular neighborhoods and in the underserved areas are deteriorating every day, life is getting more expensive, hunger is currently impacting people who were already vulnerable, parents cannot pay school tuition for their kids, unemployment is getting higher every day.

Victims of the Earthquake Call on Government to Meet its Responsibilities

2013-04-06T19:05:38Z

"We all voted for a better life"Victims of the January 12, 2010 earthquake who are still living in camps more than three years since the tragedy, demonstrated in Port-au-Prince on March 28, 2013 to call on the government to meet its responsibility to help internally displaced people.

Twenty-five camp committees alongside organizations working for decent housing programs that meet the needs of the disadvantages like FRAKKA, denounced the forced evictions that are happening to displaced people.

The demonstrators weren’t afraid to speak out against the Haitian government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that haven’t worked with them to create a sustainable plan and instead have just given people 20,000 gourdes ($500 US) which isn’t enough to rent a house and doesn’t solve the housing problem.

The protestors carried signs with messages like: “Down with forced evictions, Long live social housing, Down with NGOs.”

One of the biggest demands for demonstrators was for the government to make land available for victims who are in displacement communities on private lands while they are working for a long-term solution.

The Demonstration started with around 600 people but many more gathered as the group progressed through areas with camps. The numbers grew to between 2,500 and 3,000 participants.

President Martelly wasn’t spared in the speeches and chants of protestors who used their signs and songs to ask the president where are the 30,000 houses he promised to the January 12victims during his election campaign.

Victims of Cholera Demonstrate for Justice from the UN

2013-04-05T18:39:38Z

Victims of cholera demonstrated on April 4th to continue asking the United Nations for justice and reparations. Demonstrators strongly condemned the UN's decision to not accept the complaint that cholera victims brought against the mission in Haiti.

Protestors announced that they will mobilize tirelessly around a legal process that includes bringing a complaint before the Haitian courts against the UN MIssion.

The demonstrators carried many signs with messages against MINUSTAH and the Haitin government who they feel has covered up the UN's involvement.

Victims of Cholera Announce Sit In At Ministry of Justice on April 4th

2013-04-03T17:52:01Z

Justice and reparations for all victims of cholera! At a demonstration outside the MINUSTAH battalion where the cholera epidemic began.Victims of cholera from Carrefour (Kafou) have announced a sit-in at the Ministry of Justice to ask for justice and reparation for all victims of cholera. This is an initiative of the movement of victims of cholera and the Collective for Justice and Reparations for the Victims of Cholera.

Dozens of victims have already announced that they will bring a complaint against MINUSTAH (The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) in the Haitian court, and this is the reason they are launching a mobilization for all victims concerned to participate and re-launch the struggle in the streets against the occupation mission from the United Nations.

Tomorrow, April 4 at 10am in front of the Ministry of Justice, victims will meet to demand that the Haitian Government take it’s responsibility and take a clear position on cholera.

Residents of Jalouzi talk about the new colors in their neighborhood

2013-03-29T18:20:33Z

People living in Jalouzi like the new look of their neighborhood, but wish their homes had been repaired before they were painted. "From a distance it looks like an artist's painting."

Earthquake Homeless Protesting Evictions & Calling for Housing, March 28

2013-03-27T13:47:03Z

Yesterday on March 26, the Force for Reflection and Action on Housing (FRAKKA) and representatives of several camps for internally displaced people held a press conference in Port-au-Prince to highlight the ongoing plight of victims of the January 12, 2010 earthquake who are still homeless three years later.

Twenty-five camps announced that they will mobilize on March 28, marching to demand that the Government of Haiti take responsibility for internally displaced people by putting an immediate stop to illegal and often violent evictions while finally creating a housing program that meets the needs of these families and removes then from the highly dangerous camps where they have struggled to survive for more than three years.

Victims spoke of feeling “bouke” – so exhausted by their circumstances that they cannot go on. One issue that was highlighted was the insecurity for women and children, who cannot be safe without walls.

At the same time, the press conference called attention to the housing construction happening at Morne Cabrit, small houses that activists feel don’t respect human dignity. Homeless families and IDP activists are calling on the government first and foremost to make land available for relocation.

Putting a Pretty Face on Haiti’s Housing Crisis

2013-03-21T20:56:33Z

Analysis from Bri Kouri Nouvèl Gaye

Jalouzi, a poor neighborhood on the hillside above Petionville, gets a makeover.Jalouzi is one of the largest heavily concentrated poor neighborhoods, or shantytowns, in Haiti. Due to its location on a steep hillside high above the capital of Port-au-Prince, Jalouzi is a dangerous place to live. It also endangers the surrounding areas because of the environmental consequences of replacing soil-retaining trees with concrete houses.

It is not a surprise that more houses have been built in Jalouzi in the last three years to accommodate a growing population of homeless or internally displaced people since the earthquake on January 12, 2010 (an estimated 1.5 million were rendered homeless that day). The Haitian Government and humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have supported a program that has encouraged the growth of shantytowns and created more danger.

The Haitian Government’s 16/6 program to remove displaced people and supposedly put them into new housing has been a total failure. The displaced families who were given a small stipend to rent a new home had no choice but to return to the same unsafe housing situations they were in before the earthquake, and many are now living in even more dangerous conditions.

Within a few months of the earthquake, many NGOs began complaining that they couldn’t find land to build housing for internally displaced families. This was in large part because the Haitian Government said it could not make land available. From the administration of President Preval to President Martelly, we’ve heard the same discourse about the government not having land available to build housing for homeless families who are still living in camps today.