May 24, 2011
Contact: Michelle Karshan
Email: LiLiLiHaiti@gmail.com
Li, Li, Li! Read, a storybook reading out loud program serving more than 3,000 children monthly in Haiti's tent camps, deplores the forced & violent evictions carried out on May 23, 2011 at various tent camps occupied by hundreds of families since the earthquake.
The manner in which these evictions were planned and conducted further victimized children already suffering from post-traumatic stress and loss since the earthquake. The heartbreaking photo, taken by journalists of Bri Kouri, shows two children searching amongst the destruction for their belongings or families. The Haitian government through its municipal authorities and its national police unnecessarily and viciously totally destroyed all of the belongings of these families.
We make note that Haiti is in its heavy rainy season and entering into the hurricane season, and that there is no safe or affordable housing available as an alternative to the tent camps.
We thank Let Haiti Live and Bri Kouri for their vigilant coverage and mobilization on behalf of these families.
We ask the government of Haiti to respect the United Nations guidelines on the treatment of Internally Displaced Persons as well as the UNICEF guidelines with respect to the treatment of children more specifically.
We remind the authorities, and the international community, that a nation absent of respect for its citizens and of the rule of law and in violation of international standards on human rights cannot advance democratically nor modernize.
Again, Li, Li, Li! points out that Haiti’s future greatly depends on how its children are treated today.
See set of photos taken by Bri Kouri yesterday including one of children in their destroyed camp. http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaetantguevara/5752024138/in/set-72157626664487129/
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See TransAfrica: http://lethaitilive.org/2011/05/24/homeless-haitian-earthquake-victims-violently-evicted-from-tent-camps-in-midst-of-rainy-season/