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 Cité Soleil (Kreyol: Site Soley, English: Sun City) is a very densely populated shanty town located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Most of its estimated 200,000 to 300,000 residents live in extreme poverty.[1] The area is generally regarded as one of poorest, roughest, and most dangerous areas of the Western Hemisphere's poorest country; it is one of the biggest slums in the Northern Hemisphere. There is little police presence, no sewers, no stores, and little to no electricity.[2] The neighborhood, originally designed to house manual laborers for a local Export Processing Zone (EPZ), quickly became home to squatters from around the countryside looking for work in the newly constructed factories. After a 1991 coup d'état deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a boycott of Haitian products closed the EPZ. Cité Soleil was soon thrust into extreme poverty and persistent unemployment, with high rates of illiteracy.[2] Armed gangs roam the streets. Murder, rape, kidnapping, looting, and shootings are common as every few blocks is controlled by one of more than 30 armed factions.[3]
[edit] HistoryIn 1999, Cité Soleil was set on fire by a gang and at least 50 shacks burned.[4] In 2002, the violence escalated as the gangs began warring with each other in addition to preying on ordinary people. Many inhabitants left temporarily to escape the turmoil.[5] In 2004, UN peacekeepers stormed Cité Soleil in an attempt to gain control of the area and end the anarchy.[6] Although the United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH) has been deployed since 2004, it continues to struggle for control over the armed gangs and the violent confrontations continue. MINUSTAH maintains an armed checkpoint at the entrance to Cité Soleil and the road is blocked with armed vehicles.[2] In December, 2004, a group of armed ex-soldiers occupied ex-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide's home against the wishes of the Haitian government.[7] In January 2006, two Jordanian peacekeepers were killed in Cité Soleil.[8] In October 2006, a group of heavily armed Haitian police were able to enter Cité Soleil for the first time in three years and were able to remain one hour as armored UN troops patrolled the area. Since this is where the armed gangs take their kidnap victims, the Haitian police's ability to penetrate the area even for such a short time was seen as a sign of progress.[9] The UN has described the human rights situation in Haiti as "catastrophic".[10]  Most of the residents of Cité-Soleil are children or young adults. Few live past the age of 50; they die from disease, including AIDS, or violence.[2] At times Cité Soleil has been filled with armed gangs. The vast majority of residents of Cité Soleil remained loyal to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his Lavalas movement. Unlike Haiti's unelected past governments, Lavalas governments invested money into parks, literacy programs and medical centers in Cité Soleil.[11] Politically affiliated gangs or militias, often with quasi-official powers, have been a regular element of Haitian politics throughout the country's history. The fighting led to widescale charges by neighborhood residents that the United Nations stabilising force has permitted conditions that led to the death of unarmed bystanders. They are accused of ignoring violence by the Haitian police, the criminal roots of the kidnapping and the undermining of Arsitide's security police force.[12] [edit] Current statusSince 2004, the United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH) has been in Haiti and it now numbers 8,000 troops but continues to struggle for control over the armed gangs. In October 2006 a group of heavily armed Haitian police were able to enter Cité Soleil for the first time in three years and were able to remain one hour as armored UN troops patrolled the area. Since this is where the armed gangs take their kidnap victims, the Haitian police's ability to penetrate the area even for such a short time was seen as a sign of progress.[9] The situation of continuing violence is similar in Port-au-Prince. Before Christmas 2006, the UN force announced that it would take a tougher stance against gang members in Port-au-Prince, but since then the atmosphere there has not improved and the armed roadblocks and barbed wire barricades have not been moved. After 4 people were killed and another 6 injured in a UN operation exchange of fire with criminals in Cité Soleil in late January 2007, the United States announced that it would contribute $20 million to create jobs in Cité Soleil.[13][14] MINUSTAH maintains an armed checkpoint at the entrance to the shanty town of Cité-Soleil and the road is blocked with armed vehicles.[2] In early February 2007, 700 UN troops flooded Cité Soleil resulting in a major gun battle. Although the troops make regular forcible entries into the area, a spokesperson said this one was the largest attempted so far by the UN troops.[15] On July 28, 2007, Edmond Mulet, the UN Special Representative in Haiti, warned of a sharp increase in lynchings and other mob attacks in Haiti. He said MINUSTAH, the (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) which now has over 9,000 troops there, will launch a campaign to remind people lynchings are a crime.[16] On August 2, 2007, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon arrived in Haiti to assess the role of the UN forces, announcing that he would visit Cité Soleil during his visit. He said that it was Haiti's largest slum and as such was the most important target for U.N. peace keepers in gaining control over the armed gangs. The Haitian president René Préval has expressed ambivalent feelings about the UN security presence, saying, “If the Haitian people were asked if they wanted the UN forces to leave they would say yes.”[17] Survivors at times blame the UN peace keepers for deaths of relatives.[18]
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[edit] Footnotes
[edit] References
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