Rethinking Statelessness from Within zoning and governmental rigmarole which one may be accustomed to in Western nations. In fact, most housing in Haiti is constructed by individual households.96 Such a system may reflect empowering dynamics of community, connection and family, if not for the fact that the lack of government assistance and adequate oversight created ‘generally poor infrastructure and inferior housing construction’ that left Haiti particularly vulnerable to natural hazards, such as floods or earthquakes. 97 The 2010 earthquake damaged more than 300,000 homes, permanently destroying 100,000 of these homes and forcing 1.3 million Haitians into temporary shelters. 98 Tent cities, once a ‘stop-gap measure’ post-earthquake, 99 have become indicative of a greater trend in deficient infrastructure in Haiti. The lack of government involvement pre-earthquake continued post-earthquake, with the government failing to engage fruitfully in rubble removal to allow homes to be rebuilt, even blocking necessary equipment at the Dominican Republic border.100 Devastation at this scale was not by chance or environmental unluckiness. Dupuy states that geologists had been warning the government about the possibility of an earthquake and the subsequent harms that one would pose to the already vulnerable state of the nation’s infrastructure for years.101 Yet no preventative actions were taken and when an earthquake finally did happen, the people of Haiti were forced to rely on the charity of the international community.102 The instability caused by a lack of adequate, stable housing negatively impacts Haitian individuals’ senses of belonging, community and citizenship fulfilment. Without a stable sense of place, and the enduring precarity associated with a lack of housing, the Haitian populace’s ability to engage politically becomes severely hindered. Without the fulfilment of base human needs, movement to the desired political activities described by Arendt — voting and running for public office —103 or other political acts such as protest, engaging with (ideally elected) politicians, writing to constituents or political art, becomes inaccessible. Post-earthquake, struggling to fulfil the cyclical needs of survival dominates day-to-day existence, meaning partaking in citizenship fulfilment falls by the wayside. This is demonstrated in a 2015 qualitative study investigating the impact of social inequality and environmental factors on Haitians’ decisions to migrate to Canada. This study by Amina Mezdour, Luisa Veronis and Robert McLeman works to understand ‘how social inequality within Haiti intersects with environmental conditions’ to motivate internal and international migration. 104 Many participants reiterated the theme of poor living conditions and infrastructure in both regional and metropolitan Haiti. 105 Unfortunately, ‘overcrowding, air 96 Keith Crane et al, ‘Chapter Seven: Housing and Infrastructure’ in Building a More Resilient Haitian State (RAND Corporation 2010) 87, 88. 97 Dupuy, ‘Beyond the Earthquake’ (n 7) 196. 98 Crane (n 96) 89. 99 ibid 87. 100 ibid 89. 101 Dupuy, ‘Beyond the Earthquake’ (n 7) 196. 102 ibid 195. 103 Hannah Arendt, ‘Reflections on Little Rock’ in Peter Baehr (ed), The Portable Hannah Arendt (Penguin Books 2003) 237 (‘Arendt, “Reflections on Little Rock”’). 104 Amina Mezdour, Luisa Veronis and Robert McLeman, ‘Environmental Influences on Haitian Migration to Canada and Connections to Social Inequality: Evidence from Ottawa-Gatineau and Montreal’ in Robert McLeman, Jeanette Schade and Thomas Faist (eds), Environmental Migration and Social Inequality (Springer International Publishing 2015) 103, 104. 105 ibid 107, 109. 141