Tens of thousands of survivors of Haiti’s earthquake which rocked the Caribbean country five years ago are homeless as a result of forced evictions and government policy failure Amnesty International revealed in a new report published today (8 Jan).Since 2010 – when the earthquake devastated this impoverished country – at least 60,000 people have been forcibly evicted from camps for internally displaced people (IDP camps) after nearly 180 camps closed in the last five years.

Amnesty’s new report “15 minutes to leave” - Denial of the right to adequate housing in post-quake Haiti, documents worrying cases of people being forcibly evicted from temporary, make-shift camps. It also explores how the influx of development aid that came in the wake of the disaster failed to be transformed into long-term, secure housing solutions.

Currently at least 22,000 households are still without adequate housing in Haiti. Conditions in many camps for internally displaced people (IDP camps) are dire. A third of all those living in camps do not have access to a latrine. On average 82 people share one toilet. 

Amnesty International Caribbean Researcher Chiara Liguori said:

“Many people who lost everything in the 2010 earthquake have faced renewed hardship as they are thrown out of their shelters and makeshift camps. Others face homelessness and destitution in the long-term as financial support programmes from international donors begin to dry up.

“Temporary programmes, while well-intentioned, have been nothing more than a sticking plaster, providing a quick fix instead of long-term development solutions. What really needs to happen now is a roll-out of initiatives which will truly ensure the right to adequate housing to all those made homeless by the earthquake, and all those living in poverty,”

Forced evictions

Long-term housing solutions needed.