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Posts in category The Americas

Haitian IDPs Report

Sep13
2011 Written by admin

Eighteen months ago an earthquake destroyed the Haitian capital of Port au Prince and many of the surrounding towns and villages.  Several hundred thousand people died in the disaster and twice that number, some 600,000 are still living in refugee camps dotted around the remains of the city and outlying areas.  These are the Internally Displaced Persons camps (IDPs) and there are many in Port au Prince.  The satellite picture below demonstrates the number in one area of the capital alone; the camps are denoted by the green tree symbols.

Haiti IDP map

Some of the Port au Prince IDPs

More recently, the conditions in which Haitians are living has largely been responsible for an outbreak of Cholera which has led to the deaths of more than 4000 people.  It’s reasonably widely known that even before the earthquake, Haiti was a country in considerable economic trouble.  It ranks bottom or close to bottom on most ‘standards of living’ league tables around the world and makes even its neighbour, the Dominican Republic, seem prosperous in comparison.  Both countries share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.

Haiti’s recent history has been blighted by ruthless dictators, such as the various Duvalier family members.  It’s largely agricultural economy has suffered through decades of deforestation, man-made soil erosion and lack of oversight by any responsible government agencies.  An incredible 52% of Haiti’s GDP is made up of remittances from the Haitian diaspora.  If there is one thing Haitian’s can claim, it’s that (barring more natural disasters) the situation in Haiti cannot possibly get any worse.

It’s tough to find bright spots in Haiti, but at least the earthquake did highlight many of the problems that the country was already suffering and more importantly, it raised a huge amount of money for the various aid and redevelopment agencies that are now active there.  Agencies have encountered various problems in the delivery aid, but nothing like the obstacles faced by agencies currently in Mogadishu, Somalia.

With some long-term vision, buy-in from locals and consistent foreign investment, there may be a brighter future for this struggling country.

 

 

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Refugee News & Updates 1/2/11

Jan31
2011 Written by admin

Mexico Updates Refugee/Asylum Laws

When you think of Mexico and refugees, it’s normally those leaving the country via it’s

Haitian refugees in Mexico

porous northern border that spring to mind first.  However Mexico does continue to provide relief and safe havens for arrivals from the south, in particular Colombia, Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.  To be sure some of these refugees arrive with the intention of continuing their journey up through Mexico and towards the United States border for some Online Roulette.

Mexico has long been a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and the subsequent 1967 Protocol but the latest development merges these guidelines into Mexican law.  The new laws will ensure that refugees treatment matches those of a Mexican citizen, including health care, health insurance, permission to work and recognition of qualifications and access to education and maybe Online Kasino.

Mexico has been criticised in some quarters for it’s treatment of refugees but it’s fair to say that it has proved itself over the last half century to be a willing and generous recipient of those displaced people from the region.  It has also received the largest percentage of Haitians following the Haitian earthquake of January 2010.

Most Pakistanis Home After 2010 Floods

Some times numbers became so huge that they’re almost beyond imagining.  I would suggest that this is the case for the 3,000,000 plus people who were made homeless following the Pakistani floods in July 2010. Then we have the 20,000,000 who were affected in some way by the disaster.  Heavy monsoon rains caused the flood which at one point covered around 20% of Pakistan’s land area. No Joyland casino bonus codes here.

Seven months on and incredibly only around 170,000 people are still living in the refugee camps.  An impressive effort by the Pakistani people and international aid agencies has ensured that within a matter of months all affected people will at least be out of the refugee camps.

It’s worth noting that more people were affected in this disaster than the numbers combined during the 2004 Asian Tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the Haiti earthquake of 2010.

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Colombian Refugees in Venezuela

Dec19
2010 Written by admin

We don’t generally associate South America with large numbers of displaced persons or refugees.  It’s a continent that historically has had political issues that have led to internal conflict, but generally it’s now a stable and forward looking area.

However, according to various refugee agencies, there are around 250,000 Colombian refugees in the neighbouring country of Venezuela.  So how did this happen?

Colombia Map

Some confusion exists as to the starting point of the problems in Colombia but in the 1960′s the United States began to use it’s influence in some elements of the country’s army to attack what it regarded as communist enclaves in remoter parts of the country.  An infamous raid at Marquetalia prompted the resurrection of FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia), a left-wing organisation that had been disbanded some years before.

Aftermath of Marquetalia

Colombia subsequently plunged into a low level conflict that is till dragging on today. On one side is the Colombian government, pressing on with it’s campaign against FARC and other armed groups in the cause of political stability.  FARC continues it’s mostly unwinnable struggle against the government in the name of socialism and other groups such as the AUC (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia – United Self-Defense Force of Colombia) claim to fight the guerilla threat while possibly also trafficking drugs.

While some of Colombia remained stable, some areas became virtual war zones, leading to the displacement of huge numbers of people.  Mostly these refugees came from areas such as Meta, Guaviare and Vichada.  They crossed the porous border with Venezuela with relative ease, leaving the Venezuelans the task of coping with a large influx of desperate people.  Venezuela itself was not immune to revolutionary conflict and guerillas from that country and from Colombia repeatedly harassed the refugees. Extortion and kidnapping were common.

Eventually Venezuela, which had signed up to various international conventions on the treatment of refugees, began to absorb them into it’s own society.  Healthcare and education was made available and refugees were allowed to work within the system. Not many have returned to Colombia.

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