A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near Léogâne, close to Port-au-Prince, causing widespread destruction. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced as homes, public buildings, and services collapsed. The disaster set off large-scale internal displacement and cross-border movement, especially toward the Dominican Republic.
In the weeks after the earthquake, improvised camps expanded quickly around the capital as families sought basic shelter and security. Public reporting at the time estimated about 1.5 million people were homeless, with hundreds of informal camp sites forming. These crowded conditions shaped later migration decisions and heightened vulnerability to health and protection risks.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security designated Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), allowing eligible Haitian nationals already in the United States to stay and apply for work authorization for a defined period. TPS did not create a direct path to permanent residency, but it reduced immediate pressure to return to unsafe conditions. This became a major legal context for Haitian migration linked to the earthquake.
UNHCR called for funding to assist earthquake survivors living outside formal camps and Haitians who had moved into the Dominican Republic. This reflected a key pattern of the crisis: displacement was not only within Haiti’s camps but also through host families and cross-border movement. Protection needs—such as documentation, shelter, and safety—became central concerns.
DHS extended the initial TPS registration window, citing practical barriers such as difficulty obtaining identity documents after the earthquake and the time needed to prepare applications. The extension gave more Haitians in the United States an opportunity to seek lawful temporary protection and work authorization. This policy step affected family strategies and cross-border planning during the recovery period.
Haiti’s first confirmed cholera outbreak in modern times was recognized in October 2010, about 10 months after the earthquake. Overcrowding and weak water and sanitation systems increased the health emergency’s impact on displaced communities. The outbreak added another driver of hardship and movement for families already living in unstable shelter conditions.
IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) reported that, at the height of the crisis, about 1.5 million people were living in 1,555 displacement sites. These figures captured the scale of camp-based displacement and helped guide aid decisions, including camp management and relocation programs. The DTM became a key reference point for measuring later reductions in camp populations.
Human rights groups warned that many displaced Haitians faced forced eviction from informal camps, often without safe alternative housing. As landowners and authorities sought to clear camps, insecurity increased for families still recovering. These pressures contributed to repeated moves—sometimes into equally unstable settlements—or to attempts to leave Haiti altogether.
U.S. reporting on the Dominican Republic described continued expulsions and “returns” of Haitians after the earthquake, with concerns about due process and treatment. Even when formal mass deportations were said to be reduced, removals still occurred and documentation could be confiscated or disregarded. Cross-border migration therefore involved not only entry and work, but also ongoing risk of abrupt removal.
The Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court issued Judgment 168/13, reinterpreting nationality rules for people born in the country to parents considered “in transit,” and applying the interpretation retroactively. Regional human rights bodies warned that the decision effectively denationalized many people, especially Dominicans of Haitian descent. This intensified legal insecurity and affected cross-border mobility and access to documents.
Five years after the earthquake, rights groups reported that tens of thousands of people still lived in displacement camps and many had faced forced evictions since 2010. While camp numbers had fallen dramatically, the period closed with a clear lesson: large-scale disaster displacement can persist for years when durable housing and legal protections lag behind. This long recovery shaped continuing cross-border migration decisions beyond 2015.
By March 2015, IOM reporting indicated that tens of thousands of people still remained in a smaller number of displacement sites, even as many camps had closed through rental subsidies and other relocation pathways. The sharp reduction in camp populations did not necessarily mean stable housing for everyone, because many families moved into fragile rentals or informal neighborhoods. Remaining camps also faced environmental and eviction risks.
Haitian displacement and cross-border migration after the 2010 earthquake (2010–2015)