Development-induced Displacement in Haiti

Abstract

In recent decades the people of Haiti have faced ecological disaster, political upheaval, and persistent economic hardship. These aflictions have motivated hundreds of thousands of Haitians to migrate to other Caribbean countries, the United States and Canada. While many observers know that mass migration was the result of Haiti's problems, it was the mass migration from rural highlands to urban slums that created the important preconditions for the violent expression of collective grievances. Since the 1950s, certain development projects in the highlands have displaced large numbers of Haitians by causing or exacerbating the severe environmental degradation that destroyed their land, water and fuelwood resources. Specifically discussed are the Piligre Dam and the use of Green-Revolution technology. The result was that squatter settlements at the edge of Port-au-Prince and the district capitals grew crowded, volatile and violent.