Haiti's Homeless Told to Move Before Tropical Storm, But Move Where?

by Josie Raymond · 2010-11-05 08:00:00 UTC
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As Tropical Storm Tomas nears Haiti, more than a million people in Port-au-Prince who are still homeless from January's earthquake are being told to seek shelter. Well, if they could, they would. Some have nothing except a tarp to protect them.

Civil protection official Nadia Lochard told the AP, "We are using radio stations to announce to people that if they don't have a place to go, but they have friends and families, they should move into a place that is secure."

Here's the rub: many of Haiti's homeless, as many of the world's homeless, don't have anywhere to go. In Haiti, it's because an earthquake tore down their homes and businesses. In the U.S., it might be because they escaped abusive marriages, or were kicked out by their parents when they came out as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, or because they lost their jobs.

It became clear that people are trapped outdoors in September, when it was reported that a wealthy landowner wanted some Haitians left homeless by the quake off her property. NGOs were trying to install temporary toilets at the same time residents were being told to move it along. Rosena Desriveaux, 21, lived there with her unemployed husband and their infant. She complained of the police harassment, saying, "They tell us, 'Get out of here, you're nothing but dogs'," but said she stayed because there was nowhere else to go. I wonder where Rosena, her husband and their baby are as Tropical Storm Tomas approaches.

Haiti has a reported 1,000 shelters from the storm, but not the kind we think of with cots and hot meals. A shelter is simply a building that is expected to be sturdy enough to not fall down during the storm. Not everyone is willing to share. The Haitian headquarters of the Church of God recently tried to evict homeless encampments from its property — not very holy behavior.

All countries must strive to provide emergency shelter for their most vulnerable residents. If a nation isn't capable of caring for its own, the U.S. and others should step up to provide assistance and infrastructure. It's not political; it's humanitarian. In fact, it's just plain human.

Photo credit: The U.S. Army

Josie Raymond is a Change.org editor who has reported from the streets of the South Bronx, written for several magazines that folded (not her fault) and fixed thousands of typos.

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