A Report On 2010 Refugee Crisis In Haiti
Introduction
Most of the time, earthquakes do not injure or kill people, poorly built man made structures do. After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, first responders had to rescue people from falling buildings. It’s surprising how natural disasters can do so much damage. In January of 2010, many Haitians died because of an earthquake causing many to flee to America.
About the Nation
Haiti is a country in the Caribbean Sean on the Island of Hispaniola. It borders the Dominican Republic, and it is about the size of the state of Maryland. Before the earthquake in 2010, there were approximately 10 million people living in Haiti. As of 2018, there were approximately 10. 9 million people. The official languages of Haiti are French and Ceorole. The ethnic makeup is approximately 94. 2% black, 5. 4% mixed (black and white), and 0. 4% are another nationality. The constitution of Haiti states that you can freely choose your religion, meaning Haiti has no official religion. The religious stats as of 2003 are that 2. 4% of people practice Vodu, 7. 9% practice Pentecostal, 9. 7% were unknown, 10. 2% are nonreligious, 15. 4% are Baptist, and 54. 7% are Roman Catholic. Of all of those Roman Catholics, about 80% of them also practice Vodu. The government name is the Republic of Haiti (meaning that they are under a Republic). The current chief of state is President Jovenel Moïse and their head of government is Prime Minister Fritz-William Michel. During the earthquake in 2010, René Préval was the president however; he is no longer alive, he died in 2017 at age 74. Two cultural holidays Haiti has are Carnival and Rara. Carnival is a celebration leading up to Mardi Gras. Rara is a festival which takes before Easter and originated doing slavery which includes parades and traditional live music (intstruments are often homemade). In 2017, around 8 million people did not have access to electricity, because Haiti is a poor country.
Challenges & Conflicts
Most refugee crisis are caused by wars, but the refugee crisis in Haiti was caused by an Earthquake. Meaning it was environmental. The earthquake hit the island of Hispaniola but affected Haiti more. Geologist claimed this was caused by the movement of the Caribean technical plates. The earthquake hit 15 miles southwest of the capital of Haiti (Port-au-Prince) at 4:53 pm on January 12, 2010. The earthquake killed approximately 222,570 people and approximately 300,000 people survived while thousands were displaced. Overall the earthquake affected around 3 million people. The aftershocks were felt in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and a little bit in Cuba. Since hospitals were unstable, as a precaution the survivors had to wait to be treated. Cemeteries filled up quickly so dead bodies were laid in the streets. Due to mass mortalities (an incident which many people die over a short period of time), orphans were left vulnerable to be abused and enslaved. The U. S. was expected to help orphans so they did not have to live with relatives or in orphanages. Survivors with access to internet, family, or friends somewhere else in the world used social media to find information on missing people. Many organizations volunteered aid.
Refugee Experience
Overall, there were about 587,000 Haitin immigrants in America in 2010. About 200,000 of these people were living in America without proper documents. Luckily the government allowed them to have temporary protected status (this allowed them to work and send money home). In 2012, about a million Haitian refugees were in Haitian camps. They also traveled to Canada. In 2018, Trump stopped the protection for Haitians, so they had to return to Haiti. Haiti can’t provide for all these people which causes problems. Many Haitians spend half their pay on two daily meals. When the immigrants went back, they protested minimum wage to increase it to 500 guides ($5. 15 U. S. dollars), but instead, the government only changed it to 225 ($2. 32 U. S dollars). This shows that life in Haiti was not good for the immigrants before and after they immigrated. Every student in New York has the right to go to school even if they are an immigrant, so if they traveled to New York school was available. The staff of the schools couldn’t ask parents or students about immigration status, even if they were undocumented. Most Haitians live in Miami where there are many Haitian towns. There were a lot of Haitian immigrants before and after the earthquake. Due to the poor economy, Haitians immigrated before the earthquake. Due to the earthquake damage, they also immigrated after the earthquake. Moving Forward
Surprisingly, on a scale from 1 to 7 (1 being most/7 being least), Haiti is a 5 for being free, and for political rights (same scale) they are also a 5. Civil is also 5. This makes the overall average freedom score 41 out of 100. Haitian police are often accused of abusing suspects. Conditions in the prisons of Haiti are very crowded and poor. Haiti took about 10 years to recover from the earthquake. Haiti still isn’t a good country, it is a place most people would not want to visit. Out of 32 countries, Haiti is ranked 25th for crime.
Conclusion
To summarize, Haitians who survived the earthquake had to flee in early 2010. Most fled to America and some fled to Canada. Not too long ago, Trump stopped the temporary protection status. This sent many Haitians back to their country, which can’t even provide for them. Haitians could have a better life here if they still had the temporary protected status. We need to be more welcoming to refugees so they can have a better life.
Works Cited
- Butler, Carolyn. “The High Cost Of Low Wages In Haiti: New Report” Solidarity center, 30 Apr. 2019, https://www. solidaritycenter. org/the-high-cost-of-low-wages-in-haiti-new-report/
- Cook, Jesselyn. “7 Years After Haiti’s Earthquake, Millions Still Need Aid” Huffpost, 13 Jan 2017, https://www. huffpost. com/entry/haiti-earthquake-anniversary_n_5875108de4b02b5f858b3f9c
- Kenny, Charles. “The Haitian Migration” Foreign policy, 9 Jan. 2012, https://foreignpolicy. com/2012/01/09/the-haitian-migration/
- Pallardy, Richard et al. “2010 Haiti earthquake” Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Dec. 2017, https://www. britannica. com/event/2010-Haiti-earthquake
