A Thorny Issue

Perhaps the most difficult challenge Haiti has faced since the January 12, 2010 earthquake is what to do with the hundreds of thousands of people living in tents and makeshift shelters on public and private property. We were reminded of this issue as we camped last week among double-axle trailers with pop-outs and air conditioning at a local campground. The problem is complex. While many among the approximate 300,000 people camping on the streets of Haiti today actually lost their homes in the earthquake, many more have chosen to live as displaced persons or squat on private property to obtain certain advantages. It is recognized that the more aid given in a particular camp, the more people will set up shelters to take advantage of the aid being distributed. The international relief community also puts a great amount of pressure on the government of Haiti to avoid forced evictions in camps as this is considered an affront to the rights of refugees. Nevertheless, many private land owners have evicted squatters by force. Others have resorted to payouts to squatters to remove their shelters, including mayors trying to clean up public parks and plazas. The discussion about what to do with displaced persons is not academic for us as the cul-de-sac outside our office in Port-au-Prince is actually a displaced person camp (see the picture above taken a week after the earthquake). Because the camp is on public property, there is no way to make sure that the spots vacated by displaced persons are not reinhabited by someone else. In recent months, inhabitants of our camp have become confrontational, often demanding aid and sometimes defacing and damaging cars and other property in the area to register their dissatisfaction. As a team, we are doing some research into how we can encourage displaced persons to leave the camp in front of our office. Please pray that God will provide wisdom as we try to help the residents of our cul-de-sac without creating more dependence and problems.