OBMICA Newsletter Editorial June 2021: Sustainable Political Solutions to Haiti's Crisis Are Urgently Needed

By Bridget Wooding, Director of OBMICA

We advocate for less ambiguous and less ambivalent action among key actors in the international community, such as the United States, the Core Group, the OAS, and CARICOM, with full listening to the actors on the ground and with a view to finding the authentic political dialogue that is so badly needed.

Released in June 2021, UNHCR's annual report for 2020, the UN refugee agency, reports on global trends in forced migration. The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs), due to armed conflict, generalized violence, or human-rights violations, continued to rise in 2020 for the third consecutive year. As such, IDPs are the majority of forcibly displaced persons, as has been the case over the last two decades. UNHCR responds to internal displacement situations in a total of 34 countries. Among the most striking situations globally, Colombia continues to register the highest number of IDPs, with 8.3 million as of December 31, 2020 according to government statistics. However, today a new alarming situation is unfolding in Haiti, according to OCHA's fourth and most recent report up to the end of June 2021.

In a single month, 14,700 people have been displaced in the current upsurge of violence, while more than 89% of the total displacement of 18,100 has been caused by the ongoing crisis, an indication that violence and insecurity are worsening. While some 5,300 IDPs have found shelter in seven different sites (five organized and two spontaneous), around 9,000 people have sought refuge with host families. DTM data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) show that less than five percent of IDPs plan to return to their original residence.

The majority (60 percent) have indicated that they want to be relocated in the Ouest department as soon as possible. To that end, the Government Working Group is preparing a plan with the support of national authorities and international partners. An updated census is needed, as well as coordination of financial and logistical assistance, and robust communication with displaced persons in order to better understand their situation.

To put an end to the internal displacement of Haitians, victims of gang violence, it is urgent to find sustainable political solutions to the crisis engulfing Haiti, aggravated by the pandemic and the current hurricane season. We advocate for less ambiguous and less ambivalent action among key actors in the international community, such as the United States, the Core Group, the OAS, and CARICOM, with full listening to the actors on the ground and with a view to finding the authentic political dialogue that is so badly needed.

Bridget Wooding, Director of OBMICA