More than a year after the start of the pandemic, ten years after the earthquake, the findings are indisputable: it is the individuals who were already in precarious situations before the pandemic who got hit the hardest by the economic and social consequences of the crisis that followed. They are facing an un-precedented health and economic crisis, with potentially extreme economic, social and sustainable development consequences that may reverse decades of development progress. Refugees and displaced people in developing countries, who have been forced to flee poverty or violence, are among the most vulnerable people in the world. The slightest additional external shock can definitely push them into untenable situations. The pandemic has severed their links to their home countries, shutting down an informal economy that is vital to many, and making it more difficult to access basic resources.
The border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic has historically been very permeable, with individuals crossing it in both directions freely on a daily basis, to get some work or to buy commodities. The COVID-19 and following lockdown made the border to completely close overnight. Some Haitians were trapped in Dominican Republic, unable to go back home. A lot of them lost their jobs that was dependent on the touristic activity in the area and try to rejoin other places.