| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 580[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Port-au-Prince | |
| Languages | |
| Tamil · Telugu · Tulu · Kannada · Malayalam · Hindi · French · Haitian Creole · | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism · Islam · Roman Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Indo-Caribbean people |
Indo-Haitians (Haitian Creole:Indo-Ayisyen) orIndian-Haitans are Haitians ofIndian ancestry who immigrated to or were born inHaiti. As of 2011, there were about 10,000 people of East Indian ancestry or ancestry from theIndian subcontinent living in Haiti, with the overwhelming majority of them being mixed with people of African and European ancestry. Their descendants are known asMarabous.[2]
The Indian community in Haiti consists mainly of professionals, businessmen, and volunteers from the congregation of the Sisters of Charity. The community is made up of immigrants fromIndia as well as other Caribbean islands such asMartinique andGuadeloupe. Indo-Caribbean immigrants from other Caribbean islands have intermarried with other Haitian communities. Their descendants are known asMarabous. There is also an influx of Haitian children born to Afro-Haitian mothers and Sri Lankan Tamil fathers.
During the2010 Haiti earthquake, many members of the Indian community have lost their homes had appealed to the Indian government to provide them financial assistance to rebuild their lives.[3] There were about 40 Indian families scattered around the country at the time, some of whom had been living with the FPU for several days. Those who were wishing to return to India found themselves unable to do so as they could not get into the neighbouringDominican Republic, which is the only way out of there since there were no direct commercial flights in and out of Haiti.
