Official Name: | Bel Air |
Native Name: | Bèlè |
Settlement Type: | Neighborhood |
Pushpin Map: | Haiti |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Haiti |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | Haiti |
Subdivision Type1: | Department |
Subdivision Name1: | Ouest |
Subdivision Type2: | Arrondissement |
Subdivision Name2: | Port-au-Prince |
Unit Pref: | Imperial |
Coordinates: | 18.55°N -92°W |
Bel Air (Haitian; Haitian Creole: Bèlè, English: Pretty Air) is a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It is a slum area of the city and suffers from poverty. Crime is widespread, and kidnappings and killings have created panic among the local population.[1] The neighborhood is also noted for housing a community of artists and craftsmen who produce inspired by Haitian Vodou, such as flags.[2] [3]
Bel Air has served as a launching site for political demonstrations demanding the return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In recent years it has been marred by political violence and massacres by police.[4]
In the late 19th century, Bel Air was the preferred place of settlement for British West Indian migrants to Haiti, the largest group of which were Jamaicans.[5] On January 5, 2005 an uprising broke out and was suppressed by hundreds of Brazilian soldiers and special units of the Haitian National Police.[4] Five persons were reported to have been killed.[4] The trouble in the Bel Air area of the city was seen by the authorities as a major threat to the safety of the 2005 elections in Haiti.
The neighborhood was the most devastated area of Port-au-Prince after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[6]
At the end of 2011, the murder rate in Bel Air reached 50 murders per 100,000 residents, up from 19 murders per 100,000 residents in 2010.[7]