Thousands of Haitians continue to take refuge in neighbours’ houses, makeshift shelters, chapels or informal displacement sites, a month after a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the west of the Caribbean island where they live. That’s according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) which has been assisting in recovery efforts.
According to official figures, more than 2,200 people died and over 12,000 were injured in the quake. Nearly 53,000 buildings collapsed, and another 77,000 were severely damaged, while key transport infrastructure was also badly impacted. All this as Haiti continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country is suffering from a series of crises; the assassination of its sitting president in July has caused political instability and widespread insecurity, while thousands of people had already been displaced before the earthquake by gang violence and devastating tropical storms.