Above: a tent camp in Haiti (UN Photo/Marco Dormino)
By the Caribbean Journal staff
The United Nations is expressing concern over what it says are “ongoing illegal forced evictions” of tent camp residents in Haiti.
According to the office of the Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for Haiti, Sophie de Caen, last week, between 120 and 150 families displaced by the 2010 earthquake were victims of “illegal forced eviction” at the Camp Bristou B1.
A tractor was reportedly used to destroy tents in the camp. Witnesses said the camp was on private land but that the eviction “was not orchestrated by the owner.”
De Caen said she expressed “concern over violations of the rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Haiti and the non application of established formal camp closure procedures.”
She has brought the incident to the attention of Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, according to her office, and is supporting an initiative calling on senior Haitian officials to launch a probe of the incident.
According to the UN, about 4,000 people have been forced out of four camps in Haiti. The UN said that as many as 75,000 people in 105 other camps could face similar threats.