Haitian quake refugee population down to 279,000

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, July 6 (UPI) -- A migrant advocates group said 279,000 Haitians still live in evacuation camps, three years after a 7.0 earthquake devastated much of the country.

The International Organization for Migration said this week the refugee population had declined 82 percent since the quake, and the number of tent cities in Haiti was down 77 percent.

More than 300,000 people were killed in the quake and about 1.5 million were made homeless.

The exodus from the camps has been assisted by a government-run relocation and rent-subsidy program. However, The Miami Herald said human rights activists remain concerned refugees are being forcibly evicted from camps.