“Harmony” at the Haitian Border--October 2015

 Blind Toddler in Refugee Camp (Photo by John Carroll–September 17, 2015)

The thing I noticed most about the refugee camps outside of Anse-a-Pitres (besides the intense heat, horrible filth, lack of running water, lack of toilets and sewage system, and lack of health care) was the lack of nutritious food. I did see white rice and some red beans but that was it. And because of the lack of food in these camps both adults and children are malnourished. 

Haiti has had a severe drought again this year which leads to water shortages, poor harvests, fewer jobs in the agricultural sector, and raised food prices.  It is estimated that thirty percent of Haiti’s 10 million people are “becoming food insecure”….which is a nice way of saying they are “becoming hungry”.

The population in Anse-a-Pitres is estimated to be 15,000.  Even before the camps appeared, the folks in Anse were stressed enough surviving the day…with food being their most important necessity.  

Several weeks ago when I was in Anse, the Haitian government announced a ban on 23 Dominican products from crossing the border overland into Haiti. The banned goods included wheat, flour, cement, cooking oil, soap, water, butter, and pastas. This ban could decrease the yearly trade between the two countries by 500 million dollars and could raise their prices in Anse by 40%.  (I don’t know for sure, but “special interest” groups in Port-au-Prince may have ordered this ban so they can control the flow of goods from the Dominican to their own networks in Port-au-Prince.) 

So imagine you and your six kids live in a cardboard-cloth shack in a refugee camp just outside of Anse. You are choking on dust all day long. You have no money. You have no job. Neither government really wants you in their country. The people of Anse don’t really want you either because they are having a hard time feeding their own families due to the drought and now the import ban from the Dominican.  You and your family are in trouble. 

Refugee Camp, Anse-a-Pitres (Photo by John Carroll–September 19, 2015)

One week ago there was a violent demonstration at the border between Anse and the adjacent Dominican border town of Pedernales. The Haitian people in Anse who are being deprived of the goods and products threw stones at the Haitian police and set the Haitian Immigration office on fire. Bullets were fired. 

Haitian Immigration–Anse-a-Pitres (Photo by John Carroll–September 19, 2015)Haitian Immigration–Anse-a-Pitres after Fire-Bombing (HaitiLibre–October 7, 2015)

Yesterday there was a meeting between Dominican President Danilo Medina and Haitian President Michel Martelly in Barahona.  They determined that government ministers from both governments would soon meet to work on “an accord to enhance commercial trade and normalize ground transport of goods.”

If this actually works, where products can be traded across the border once again, the people in the refugee camps will still be hungry but maybe a trickle of rice and a red bean or two will land in their laps from the local river bed market. But only if they are lucky. 

The leaders also  talked about coordinating the return of people of Haitian descent who do not have legal residency in the Dominican Republic. “Both governments also agreed to continue ongoing communication and coordination for better harmonization of repatriation,” according to Dominican Foreign Minister Andres Navarro. 

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Better harmonization of repatriation? Please. 

Universal Sign of Hunger–Anse-a-Pitres Refugee Camp (Photo by John Carroll–September 17, 2015)

 

John A. Carroll, MD

www.haitianhearts.org