600,000 P-au-P homeless; 130,000 relocated - IOM Report

Below is an update from the IOM, detailing updates related to TENT SITES, WATER DISTRIBUTION, HOMELESS/DISPLACED people, and TRANSPORT of people to provinces, other sites of safety.

IOM Press Briefing Notes

International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Date: 24 Jan 2010

Sunday 24 January 2010

Spokesperson: Jean-Philippe Chauzy

HAITI - Urgent Need for More Tents as Two More Sites are Found to Relocate the Displaced - Two new sites in Port-au- Prince and Léogâne have been identified to develop temporary tent settlements for those living in deplorable conditions in makeshift settlements without basic services.

In the capital, a temporary tent settlement within the city limits on Route de Tabarre will be developed to house some 4,000 persons currently living in an improvised settlement on the grounds of the Prime Minister's Offices.

Another site has been identified in Léogâne, a city southeast of the capital which was devastated by the earthquake.

IOM is in discussion with its partners to find agencies to provide basic services and management at the sites. The Haitian National Police will provide security in the settlements.

"The temporary tent settlements will provide a clean and safe environment for the displaced, but they are a short term solution. Tent settlements are not sustainable," emphasised Vincent Houver, IOM Chief of Mission in Haiti.

The Government of Haiti plans to establish several sites in the greater Port-au-Prince area, each able to accommodate a few thousand individuals. Earthquake victims will be relocated to these sites pending reconstruction efforts.

"A more solid and sustainable option is needed, but we also need tents. There is a shortage of tents," said Houver.

IOM has 10,000 family-size tents in its warehouse in Port-au-Prince, but estimated needs stand at 100,000 to assist 500,000 persons.

The Organization is also receiving a huge number of requests for tents from NGOs and many groups and families that have lost their homes.

"Tents are by no means the only solution, but in the short term we need them. We are also pushing for more sustainable alternatives, but we need to support the government in its need to provide an immediate improvement for the homeless, so we need to move forward with these sites," said Houver.

"The relocation of displaced people is complex and requires that basic services be up and running and to have security in place before people are moved. The endeavour is not a simple check list. IOM and its partners are on the ground to help the people of Haiti, but the task must be done right," said Houver.

As of 22 January, the Government of Haiti had reported 609,000 persons without shelter in the wider Port-au-Prince area. The number of people leaving the capital is increasing daily.

More than 130,000 people have taken advantage of the Government's offer of free transportation to cities in the north and southwest.

Meanwhile, IOM and its cluster partners, including Concern Worldwide, GOAL, Care, are providing the displaced with non-food items donated by the US and Japanese governments, reaching some 200,000 persons each day with essentials such as hygiene kits, jerrycans, water purification tablets, blankets, mosquito nets, and plastic sheeting.

On Saturday IOM distributed hygiene kits and jerrycans to 29,013 persons at 14 locations in the Port-au-Prince neighbourhoods of Pétionville, Juvenat, Canapé Vert, Delmas 83, and Delmas 85.‬

As part of an initial appeal launched on 15 January, the Organization is asking for US$ 30 million to provide emergency shelter, non-food assistance and among other things, establish a cash-for-work programme that would include rubble removal .

IOM has so far received pledges totalling USD 19,6 million from the US government (OFDA/USAID), Sweden, Canada, France, Finland, Korea, the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the Clinton Foundation and Argos Cement Company of Colombia to support ongoing relief operations and future rebuilding efforts.

Private donations can be made to IOM through the IOM website at www.iom.int and in the United States at http://www.usaim.org/PROJECTHaiti.asp

For further information, please contact Niurka Pineiro, in Port-au-Prince, on Tel: + 509 3490 6678, email: niurkapineiro@yahoo.com or Jean-Philippe Chauzy or Jemini Pandya, IOM Geneva, Tel: + 41 22 717 9361/+ 41 79 285 4366, Email: jpchauzy@iom.int and + 41 22 717 9486/+ 41 79 217 3374 Email: jpandya@iom.int respectively. Copyright © IOM. All rights reserved.

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