Monday, May 23, 2011, while people were still asleep, Delmas municipal authorities together with the Police Nationale d'Haiti (PNH), have conducted an strong operation of destruction and expulsion of a camp located in a public place, at the corner of the intersection of Delmas Road and International Airport. The tents housing the displaced, who occupied this place since January 2010 have been destroyed and the goods and merchandise moved, destroyed or seized. Several gunshots were heard in the area and arrests were reported.

To justify this operation Wilson Jeudy, the Mayor of Delmas explained "...We can not give people a public square as a gift, to set up tents favorable to gang activity [...] this evacuation takes place in two stages: the first step is to eliminate all the empty tents, suspected to serve as hideouts for gangs, the second step will be to will be to begin discussions, from today with people living in other tents, to see how the town hall can displace them..."

Asecond step, which does not appear to be shared by the displaced, who argue on the contrary that their tents were torn and their personal effects taken during the operation.

Following this intervention, Camille Chalmers, Executive Director of Advocacy Platform for Alternative Development (PAPDA), argues that the problem of rehousing of the victims should not be resolved in the repression. Mr. Charlmers indicates that the town hall had first, look for another place to rehouse the victims who did not chosen this situation "It is unacceptable that the Haitian government uses repressive force without thinking to prepare adequate space to relocate victims of the earthquake. He encourages the authorities of the country to protect IDPs and to prepare a suitable location to accommodate them"

For his part, Me Patrice Florvilus, the lawyer of displaced, has strongly condemned this act of expulsion, which he describes as "a violations of fundamental rights of the person [...] IDPs have the right to shelter in a temporary space after a natural disaster and must be protected by the state." Outraged, the lawyer has announced, that he had sent a request to the Deputy Judge of the Court of Peace of Delmas, Mr. Durand Jean Rigot, allowing him to file a complaint against the authors of this act "a complaint will be filed against the Mayor of Delmas Wilson Jeudi, the municipal agents, who took part in the operation so that they can answer of their acts."

Several leaders of social and popular organizations whose POHDH, PAPDA and ACPRODDH have also denounced, Tuesday the strong intervention of the Mayor of Delmas. These organizations have expressed their will to force the Government to develop a comprehensive housing policy to provide shelter respecting the human dignity of the citizens. They have urged the parliamentarians to be prepared to vote a law on housing, that will allow any Haitian to have access to decent shelter, as recommended in Article 22 of the constitution of 1987 and the international convention of human socio-economic and cultural.

According to rumors circulating in the city, the Mayor of of Delmas, would consider in the coming days, a huge operation of expulsion, on all public places of the municipality occupied by the displaced, while the country is on the eve of hurricane season and that the population is already suffering the ravages of the heavy rains.

PI/ HaitiLibre