Census Bureau News -- International Data Base


Haitian Population Set to Rebound After Earthquake, According to U.S. Census Bureau
WASHINGTON, June 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The population of Haiti is projected to increase from 9.6 million in 2010 to 13.4 million by 2050, according to new data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. This future growth follows an estimated population decline during the past year caused by the January 2010 earthquake.

The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has nearly the same total population -- 9.8 million in 2010 -- and also is expected to grow to a comparable size in 2050 -- 13.7 million.
These figures come from the Census Bureau's International Data Base, a compilation of population estimates and projections for 227 countries and areas. This release includes revisions for 28 countries, including Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
For Haiti, the new demographic figures incorporate the effects of the January earthquake, which resulted in 230,000 deaths -- nearly three times the estimated deaths in all of 2009 -- according to the Haitian government. These two countries have been close in population for many years, and indeed, Haiti surpassed the Dominican Republic in 2004, but the earthquake pushed Haiti's population below that of the Dominican Republic again by midyear 2010. This relationship is projected to remain the same for the next few decades because of similar levels of projected growth rates.
In 2009, both countries had population growth rates of 1.4 percent and had similar levels of net migration and natural increase (births minus deaths), but the composition of natural increase differed. The 2009 death rate estimate in the Dominican Republic averaged 4.3 deaths per 1,000 population, while in Haiti it was twice that level. In 2009, the birth rate in the Dominican Republic was an estimated 20.2 births per 1,000 population and in Haiti 25.7 births per
1,000 population.
"Up-to-date estimates of population characteristics will assist in both the immediate recovery effort in Haiti, as well as the long-term rebuilding of the country's basic infrastructure," said Peter Johnson, a senior demographer in the Census Bureau's Population Division.
The island of Hispaniola has a high population density with greater density in Haiti -- about 350 people per square kilometer -- than in the Dominican Republic -- about 200 people per square kilometer.
The Census Bureau's International Data Base includes projections by sex and age to 100 years and older for countries and other areas with populations of 5,000 or more and provides information on population size and growth, mortality, fertility and net migration.
The Census Bureau prepares national estimates and projections for all countries using census and survey data, vital statistics, administrative statistics from the countries, and information from multinational organizations that collect and publish data for these countries. The Census Bureau's evaluation process focuses on internal and temporal consistency of data. Information on statistical measures of uncertainty (e.g., standard errors) are considered in the evaluation when such data are available.
Editor's note: The information can be accessed at http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb
SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

No Fuzzy Math Here

Despite earthquake, Haiti's population continues to grow


U.S. Census information shows that Haiti will have high density despite the many quake-related deaths early this year.
BY TRENTON DANIEL


Despite the huge loss of life in Haiti's 7.0-magnitude earthquake in January, the Caribbean nation's population growth shows no signs of slowing down, the U.S. Census Bureau said Monday.
Haiti's population is expected to jump from the current 9.6 million to 13.4 million in 2050, marking a 40 percent increase, according to data released Monday.
The new demographic figures take into account the many deaths stemming from the Jan. 12 earthquake, which claimed between 230,000 and 300,000 lives and rendered 1.5 million homeless.
``There was a blip, a slight down tick [in population] because of the earthquake but I don't think there's anything that will prevent it from going to a . . . 1 percent per year increase,'' which is slightly above average, said Peter Johnson, a senior demographer in the Census Bureau's population division.
While many countries see population grow because of migration rates, Haiti's population growth is largely caused by fertility rates, Johnson said.
The Dominican Republic, which occupies the eastern end of Hispaniola, has nearly the same total population as Haiti -- 9.8 million in 2010 -- and is expected to grow to a comparable size in 2050 -- 13.7 million.
The neighboring countries have been close in population for many years. Haiti surpassed the Dominican Republic in 2004, but the earthquake pushed Haiti's population below that of the Dominican Republic again by midyear 2010.
This relationship is projected to remain the same for the next few decades because of similar levels of projected growth rates in both countries.
Haiti, which is roughly the size of Maryland, has a greater population density than the Dominican Republic, which is slightly bigger than New Hampshire.
There are about 350 people per square kilometer in Haiti, compared to some 200 people per square kilometer in the Dominican Republic.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/29/1705871/despite-earthquake-haitis-population.html#ixzz0sKIgYWVI

Haiti’s Eternal Weight
By REGINALD DESROCHES, OZLEM ERGUN and JULIE SWANN
Published: July 7, 2010

IT has been six months since the earthquake in Haiti left more than 300,000 people dead and destroyed 280,000 homes and businesses. Haiti still faces a long road to recovery, but one of the biggest things literally standing in its way is earthquake debris.

The quake left an astonishing amount of debris, including concrete and rebar from collapsed buildings, destroyed belongings and human remains. Twenty million to 25 million cubic yards of debris fill the streets, yards, sidewalks and canals of Port-au-Prince — enough to fill five Louisiana Superdomes.

According to our research and conversations with aid groups in Haiti, less than 5 percent of this has been removed since January, and even less has been properly disposed of. A draft of the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ debris management plan says it would take a dump truck with a 20-cubic-yard bed 1,000 days to clear the debris, if it carried 1,000 loads a day — or about three years. But the current rate of removal is much lower. Based on our calculations, partially from the United States Agency for International Development’s reports on debris removal programs, we estimate that it could take 20 years or more.

Today, debris is one of the most significant issues keeping Haitians from rebuilding Port-au-Prince and resuming normal lives. Much of the stuff has been left in place or simply moved to the center or the sides of roads. Some streets with especially large piles of refuse are impassable. As a result, it can take hours to travel just a few miles. Meanwhile, schools, hospitals, businesses and homes remain blocked.

The debris is also an environmental and health hazard. The daily downpours of the rainy season leach toxic chemicals and carcinogens into the storm water system — and ultimately into the drinking water. Debris has been dumped into the sea, turning the blue water brown.

Initial cleanup efforts were promising. Immediately after the earthquake, the Haitian government’s road construction operation began clearing debris. Within a week, the United States Army Corps of Engineers deployed teams to identify sites for sorting and processing debris and drafted a debris management plan, while the Navy hired Haitian and foreign contractors to open major roads with heavy machinery.

But since then, efforts have lagged. At present, there is no significant, coordinated financing by international aid groups for debris removal using machinery, though some estimates predict the next year and a half of debris management could cost around $300 million. Instead, almost all of the operations in Port-au-Prince are in the form of cash-for-work programs like the ones sponsored by Usaid and the European Union, which have Haitians, at best, breaking concrete and loading trucks by hand and, at worst, just moving bricks from one side of a road to the other. Many workers lack masks or gloves. While this inefficient process may put money into the hands of Haitians, it only further slows rebuilding.

Instead, the United Nations, the World Bank and agencies like Usaid, in conjunction with the Haitian government, should create a task force focused on debris removal to coordinate the cleanup efforts of the hodgepodge of aid groups in the country. The task force should identify critical facilities, like hospitals and schools, and the roads that approach them, to clear first. It should lay down environmental regulations for debris disposal and landfill management, and regulate the use of cash-for-work programs. There’s no reason these can’t continue, but more of the money should be allocated to bringing in heavy equipment and expertise. This kind of task force would serve as a model for future disasters.

Debris isn’t sexy. Images of blocked-off streets don’t inspire people to help in the way pictures of hungry or needy people do. However, if Haiti is going to recover, it needs more than food aid and health clinics; it needs functioning, accessible infrastructure.

Reginald DesRoches is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where Ozlem Ergun and Julie Swann are associate professors of industrial and systems engineering and co-directors of the Center for Health and Humanitarian Logistics.

This last article says it all; Haiti is quickly becoming "old news" and the effects will be catastrophic for the DR, and of course for Haiti itself. One would think that , at the very least, debris removal would be well ahead of schedule; I mean it's not like there are few unemployed hands in Haiti!

But the population stats you point out, and I have also on another post, pertain very harsh realities that few dare state out in the open: What will become of this island with close to 25-30 million inhabitants by 2050? Unless an economic miracle occurs, depopulation is the only viable solution; and it has worked before in the Caribbean context: Puerto Rico. But the US is no longer in that game, and another area will need to be considered: French Guyana? The Senegal offer? Certainly, VISAs to wealthier nations would be the most advantageous avenue, but the existing economic conditions preclude this option today. Sadly, the US and the international Community appear to be using the DR as a Containment Vassal for this ongoing human tragedy called Haiti.

Forget about birth control pills and/or tubal ligations. It is high time for VASECTOMIES!

After the Quake, Haiti and the Dominican Republic have a smoother, but fragile, relationship

BY FRANCES ROBLES
frobles@MiamiHerald.com



Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez and Haiti President Rene Preval speak to reporters at the Haiti airport.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- It wasn't so long ago when the president of the Dominican Republic visited neighboring Haiti, protesters blocked his motorcade by burning tires and hurling rocks.
That was 2005, when Haitian laborers in the Dominican Republic were being lynched, deported, and their shacks burned to the ground. Called a racist and a murderer, President Leonel Fernández canceled scheduled visits to Port-au-Prince and didn't return -- until January, when a massive earthquake toppled parts of the Haitian capital and killed enough people to populate a medium-sized city.

When he showed up by surprise 36 hours after the tremor in a helicopter, he was the first head of state to arrive. Dominican civil defense authorities were already scrambling to send rescue crews, the Department of Health had activated mobile clinics, and the Dominican Red Cross was in place.

Six months after the Jan. 12 quake, everyone agrees that the Dominican Republic stepped up in the critical days immediately following the disaster, when international response was slow and disorganized.

RESPONSE PRAISED

``The Dominican Republic has never responded better to a difficult situation; they responded better than they have to natural disasters in the Dominican Republic,'' said Bridget Wooding, an expert on Dominican-Haitian migration.

The aggressive response came despite bitter tensions between the two nations, fueled by centuries of animosity. And it came just two weeks before a change to the Dominican constitution that denies citizenship to the children of undocumented workers -- virtually all Haitians -- born in the Dominican Republic.

So while Santo Domingo dispatched government civil engineers to fix the electric grid and design roads for Port-au-Prince and invest $40 million in a new university for Haiti, experts say hundreds of thousands of Haitians who were born here decades ago are suddenly stateless.

``It's hypocritical, a complete paradox,'' said Amos Andrada, a journalist of Haitian descent who was refused a national I.D. card recently. ``Leonel Fernández has emerged as the great protector of Haiti. One thing is what he's doing for the state of Haiti and another what he is doing to us, who are Dominicans.''

While the U.S. government's management of the Port-au-Prince airport came under heavy criticism for turning back much-needed aid, the Dominican government launched quick and efficient cargo routes by land and sea. The United Nations in Santo Domingo flew aid and people using some 30 choppers and planes donated by the Dominican businesses.

Although they were not permitted to linger after their surgeries, about 4,000 injured Haitians were treated in Dominican hospitals. Many more were fed and taught in projects launched by the First Lady. One Dominican woman became a celebrity when she left her own babies at home to breast feed Haitian infants in Santo Domingo hospitals.

Bridget Wooding, an expert on Dominican-Haitian migration, was in Port-au-Prince during the quake kicking off the French translation of her book about Haitian migrants: Needed but not Wanted.

``I remember being on the border at 10 p.m. on my way back to Santo Domingo,'' she said, ``and Leonel was personally ringing journalists who work for his foundation to find out whether mobile clinics were operating.''

Haiti's prime minister says relations have not been better in 200 years. But experts worry that the goodwill sown between the two nations in the months since the quake will quickly dissipate, as recovery stalls and more Haitian migrants cross illegally into the Dominican Republic.

While the Dominican Republic is being lauded for its response, the nation -- and its president -- clearly has interests of their own. The Dominican Republic does a half-billion dollars in trade each year with Haiti; plus many Dominicans fear a stampede of quake survivors will descend on the neighbor country. It's also no secret that Fernández enjoys playing the role of regional leader in times of international crisis.

``Sometimes altruism parallels a nation's interest,'' said Florida International University Prof. Eduardo Gamarra, one of Fernández's political advisors. ``It's not that Leonel Fernández woke up on Jan. 12 and realized there was a Haiti. He's been working on this for a long time.''

Gamarra calls the tense relationship over migration issues ``one of the legacies of the past'' and admits that it must be addressed.

MEETING PLANNED

Fernández was traveling to Washington this week meeting with President Barack Obama and was unavailable for an interview. Officials at the Department of Interior, the first lady's office and the Foreign Affairs Ministry declined or did not respond to repeated interview requests.

The struggles between Haiti and the Dominican Republic date back hundreds of years, when the island they share was ruled by different colonial powers, the French in the west and the Spanish on the east.

Haitian slaves booted their colonial masters and established their own nation, eventually occupying the entire island. An occupation that was at first welcomed soon soured, and the Dominican Republic to this day celebrates its 1844 independence from Haiti.

In 1937, Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the army to slaughter tens of thousands of Haitians. That didn't stop the Dominican Republic from signing contracts with thousands of Haitians to work in sugar cane fields.

By the 1960s, agricultural communities called bateyes were filled by Haitians. They settled and had children.

According to the constitution, the children of people ``in transit'' were not entitled to citizenship. A 2007 Supreme Court ruling backed up a migration law defining anyone who lacked legal residency as ``in transit'' -- regardless of how many decades they had lived in the country.

In January 2010, two weeks after the quake, a new constitution took effect denying citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.

The grown children of Haitian immigrants say the government has applied the new constitution retroactively, denying papers to anyone whose parents did not have legal residency. In Latin America, a recently certified birth certificate is required whenever anyone marries, goes to college, or requests a passport.

``You know what that is that you grow up going to school being told you live in a democracy where there are rights and then they say, `well, actually, starting tomorrow, you are not Dominican, and there is no democracy,' '' said Altagracia Jean Joseph, 24. ``Talk about breaking dreams, hopes and illusions.''

Jean Joseph graduated from high school four years ago and has been unable to register for college or get a formal job. When she tried to register for nursing school, she was turned away.

Siany Jeans Yudel could not apply for a law license. Pedro José Adames could not sign a contract to play baseball. Felipe Siriyan, 27, lost a university scholarship and now works a few days a week in construction.

LANDMARK CASE

The issue has been the subject of lawsuits in the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights. One landmark case ruled against the Dominican Republic, saying a migrant cannot be considered in transit for decades and migration status cannot be inherited.

But the cases caused such a backlash here that the laws being disputed as unconstitutional led to the recent permanent changes to the constitution.

Continued ........

Page 2


``My parents left Haiti in 1957. My daughter is third generation Dominican, and she cannot get the national I.D. card she needs to go to college,'' said María Camilise, who has spent years tackling bureaucratic red tape for her two daughters.

``My youngest is 20 years old and says to me, `Why did I bother going to high school?' It seems the government wants Haitian women to be prostitutes and the men to be delinquents.''

Her daughter Martha Cuba has only been to Haiti once: as a volunteer after the quake.

Dominican authorities say the only people having trouble are a tiny minority whose Haitian parents held fraudulent I.D. cards when their children's births were registered.

Vice Admiral Sigfrido A. Pared Pérez, the director of immigration services, acknowledged that the government's immigration reform plan that would have offered residency to long-time migrants and their children was shelved when it confronted opposition.

``There are no people who are in legal limbo,'' he said. ``They are in waiting.''

He stressed that all deportations were suspended after the quake and migrants were allowed to visit Haiti to check on their families and return.

``No other country in the world did that,'' he said. ``No other country shares a border with the poorest country in the hemisphere.''

Santo Miguel Román, an immigration service attorney who defended the Dominican Republic in the InterAmerican court, said Haitian descendants should go to the Haitian embassy and register as citizens and then apply for a visa.

``They say we are racist,'' Román said. ``This is a country of black people. My grandmother was black.''

He whipped out her photograph from his wallet to prove it.

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said immigration will be among the leading points of discussion at the bilateral commission Haitian President René Préval and Fernández restarted two weeks ago.

``We don't want to address the constitutional issues, but we do want to address the case of the Haitians working to consolidate the Dominican economy,'' he said. ``They are working there, they are recognized as working there . . . But they don't want to legalize them for some technical issue. We have to resolve that.''

In the meantime, Jean Joseph, the would-be nursing student, tried to register her birth at the Haitian consulate, 24 years late.

``The guy there said to me, `You think if the Dominican Republic does not recognize you as Dominican, and we have no record of your birth or know who you are, that we will consider you Haitian?'' Jean Joseph said. ``Entire communities are in this situation.''

Miami Herald staff writer Jacqueline Charles contributed to this report.

Good article Blut, I just have a few issues:

"Haitian slaves booted their colonial masters and established their own nation, eventually occupying the entire island. An occupation that was at first welcomed soon soured, and the Dominican Republic to this day celebrates its 1844 independence from Haiti."

The issue of if this occupation was welcomed or not is under dispute. Some historians, I believe Moya Pons, believe that Haitian intrigue-payoffs and propaganda- secured the efforts of some people living on the Spanish side to voice support, and that Jose Nunez de Caceres basically saw the "writing on the wall" and moved to support the Haitian occupation not of free will, but hard military realities. Remember, Blutarsky that Nunez Caceres and many forerunners of the Dominican State and Nation wanted to have the republic join the union of La Gran Colombia headed by Simon Bolivar. The Haitian occupation preempted that consideration. Yes, the Haitians brought greater modernity into the Spanish side, but at what price? Many of the educated members of the society, a small but crucially important segment of any future nation-state left for Cuba, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Many contributing greatly to those lands and states. Even some note worthy organizations, I'm thinking of a Catholic Order of Nuns, left for Cuba and established their order that still operates to this day in Cuba.

Another issue stems from the article's lack of balance when stating DR's actions but never Haitian leaders acquiescence and cooperation in the schemes. A case in point are the Bateys that both Haitian and Dominican capitalist or better monopolist used to make themselves rich.

I think that the situation on the island needs several developments in order to reach a better outcome for both nation, both States:

1. Rich nations need to increase visas for Haitians. This is the fastest and greatest possible mode for modernizing and uplifting people from dirt poor circumstances into productive and middle class status. The US should increase visas for Haiti, Canada and France into the wide Francophone Community should lead an effort to help re-settle Haitians. No one will be forced out of Haiti, only given the opportunity to re-start their lives elsewhere, under better conditions.

2. Increase economic opportunities on the island for both Haitians and Dominicans. Haiti needs to establish itself as an exporting house for the NAFTA and EURO market. Have Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese and others invest money to do this. As Haiti's economy grows, the DR will pick up economic stimulus. All this will increase cooperation and help facilitate better relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

3. Increase population control in both countries. Both nations, especially Haiti are growing too fast. By 2050 25-30 million people might be living on the island. To put this in perspective, that total may well surpass Cuba's, Jamaica's, Puerto Rico's and all the other islands in the Caribbean! Not a good outcome. Unless an economic miracle occurs, God save the souls living under such conditions.

4. Haiti and the DR must negotiate the status of these "state-less" people. Clearly, both States are responsible for their plight. The Haitian State for promoting their crossing and having little if no supervision over their "lost folk" The DR for having allowed many to settle and not taking actions to send back the individuals illegally in the nation. Unlike the US and other advance and rich nations, the Dominican Republic can not allow the unmitigated flow of desperately poor people to flood its nation. What will happen then? Will the UN or any other nation or International Organization come in and help repatriate both sides? Fat chance on the last one.

5. DR and Haiti need to provide Haitian workers in DR with proper documentation and allow for their continue employment as long as they respect the laws of the land. These workers need to understand that working in DR or any other land does not entitle them to instant citizenship. Citizenship must to applied for and only the host nation-state has ultimate power in deciding whom to allow in. This educational program needs to get started to establish better communication between the two sides. Both our people would be better if they are implemented.

Did you see where Nutty Hugo just dug up Bolivars remains to find out if he was poisoned by Colombians