THE risk of being intercepted and deported is not enough to deter Michael (surname withheld) from illegally entering Jamaica.

The 18-year-old Haitian, who was deported from the country once before, is set on returning to the island, and is saving to come up with the US$200 it now costs to make the 477-kilometre boat trip.

"I don't want to stay in Haiti anymore," he told the Observer. "Life in Jamaica is better than in Haiti. You can find jobs (there). You can go to school and to university."

He ran away from his country in 2005 when he was only 13-years-old. Then, the asking price for the trip was US$100. He was seeking a better life, one which his family couldn't give him, he said. When he went looking for work however, he met a Montego Bay family that got him enrolled in high school instead.

"The boss seh mi too young fi work so him sen mi go school," said the teen in the Jamaican dialect.

But he didn't get the chance to complete his studies or to go through with his plan of getting married in order to attain legal status in Jamaica. In 2007, two years after he first arrived, Michael was deported to his home country. He vowed to return someday, but the earthquake which destroyed the Haitian capital three weeks ago has made his desire more urgent.

"In Haiti right now you can't do nothing because everything mash up. Mi ah go back ah Jamaica. I have no help. My family can't help me with anything.

"Mi ah look work fi pay di US$200 now," he said, adding that Jamaicans were the ones offering the trips to Haitians.

The Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard, which has an ongoing border surveillance operation, has been on the look out for Haitians fleeing to Jamaica since the January 12 tremor which has left about 150,000 people dead and thousands more homeless.

The United States has also been expecting that Haitian boat people will soon start to migrate in droves and has been monitoring its shores.

To date, however, there have been no reports of mass boat migrations from the country. What has been happening is that thousands have been fleeing the capital city for towns such as Gonaïves and Cap Haïtien.

According to figures released by the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 130,000 residents from Port-au-Prince have migrated to six main areas within the country since January 12. It said 50, 573 have moved to the department of Artibonité, the capital of which is Gonaives; 29, 500 have gone to the Nord Ouest department, the capital of which is Port de Paix; 20, 530 to Centre, where the capital is Hinche; 12, 500 to Nord, where the capital is Cap Haïtien; and 9,000 each to Grand Anse (Jérémie) and Sud (Les Cayes).

Local government authorities in Gonaïves say they are concerned informal camps, called tent cities, could soon begin to spring up over the township.

"Some of the people have found friends or host homes. Nobody is sleeping on the streets yet but we fear that in short order the families won't be able to care for them anymore and we don't know how people will react to that (change).

"We have to wait and see how this socio-economic situation will play out," humanitarian affairs and development co-ordinator for the Artibonité and Nord Ouest departments at the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), Pascale Lefrançois, told the Observer.

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