Haiti

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Haiti earthquake:
Looting starts as frustration and anger boils over

January 15, 2010 -- Peacekeepers in Haiti warned that security was an urgent priority amid fears of widespread looting as the UN launched an appeal for more than $550 million (£337 million) in aid. The UN World Food Programme said its warehouse in the capital, Port-au-Prince, containing 15,000 tonnes of provisions had been looted, though it was not yet clear how much food had been taken. UN peacekeepers patrolling the capital said there was rising anger that aid had not been distributed quickly, and the Brazilian military advised that aid convoys should add security to guard against looting. "Unfortunately, they're slowly getting more angry and impatient," said David Wimhurst, spokesman for the Brazilian-led UN peacekeeping mission. "I fear, we're all aware that the situation is getting more tense as the poorest people who need so much are waiting for deliveries. I think tempers might be frayed."

Aid worker Fevil Dubien said some people were almost fighting over the water that he handed out from a truck in a northern Port-au-Prince neighbourhood. Insecurity was the biggest problem, Delfin Antonio Rodriguez, the rescue commander from the neighbouring Dominican Republic, told AFP news agency. "Yesterday they tried to hijack some of our trucks. Today we were barely able to work in some places because of that." The WFP said looting was not unusual in disaster situations when people were without the most basic supplies such as water.

The UN said it would launch a flash appeal this afternoon in New York for $550 million in aid. A flash appeal is a way of structuring a co-ordinated humanitarian response. Meanwhile, former U.S. president Bill Clinton said he would try to model a disaster assistance fund along the same lines he and former president George Bush Snr pursued for victims of the Asian tsunami. Barack Obama has asked Clinton, a UN special envoy to Haiti, to work with former president George Bush on a fundraising effort. Some 800 U.S. infantry soldiers – the first major group of 5,000 military heading to the Caribbean country – and a Navy aircraft carrier were expected to arrive in Haiti to aid the relief effort and bolster security.

The small airport in Port-au-Prince has struggled to cope with the stream of aid flights. Some have been turned away and little of the aid that has landed has arrived in the most needy areas. Bodies lay all around the hilly city, with people covering their mouths and noses with cloth to block out the stench. Corpses were piled on pickup trucks and delivered to the general hospital in Port-au-Prince, where the hospital director, Guy LaRoche, estimated the bodies piled outside the morgue numbered 1,500.

More than 48 hours after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck, people clamoured for food and water, as well as to help dig out relatives missing under the rubble. Shaul Schwarz, a photographer for Time magazine, said he saw at least two roadblocks made with rocks and bodies of quake victims. "They are starting to block the roads with bodies. It's getting ugly out there. People are fed up with getting no help," he told Reuters. "We need food. The people are suffering. My neighbours and friends are suffering," said Sylvain Angerlotte, 22. "We don't have money. We don't have nothing to eat. We need pure water."

The international Red Cross estimated 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed in the earthquake, based on information from the Haitian Red Cross and government officials. Another 300,000 are believed to have been left homeless. Aid workers warned that time was running out for the thousands still trapped in the rubble. An aid worker described his frustration at hearing the cries of people trapped under rubble after the quake but being unable to help them because of a lack of heavy machinery. Rezene Tesfamariam, Haiti director of charity Plan International, said people were using their bare hands or basic tools such as shovels or pick-axes in a bid to reach loved ones buried under collapsed buildings. "There are people still alive underneath [rubble], you can hear them crying for help, but time is running out. It is beyond the means of individuals to reach them. They are trying to move concrete with their hands. What is desperately needed is proper machinery and equipment to lift the rubble." Tesfamariam said vehicles and equipment were also urgently needed to remove the tens of thousands of dead bodies piling up in the capital. "I have been travelling round the city to find where we can provide assistance and I see dead bodies lying in the street everywhere."

In Britain, the Disasters Emergency Committee launched an appeal for aid. The British Red Cross said £1 million was raised in the first 36 hours of its appeal. Governments and agencies have pledged about £245 million in aid, including £6 million from the UK.

Small groups of survivors could be seen burying dead by roadsides. Other dust-covered bodies were being dragged down streets, towards hospitals where relatives hoped to leave them. Countless dead remained unburied, some in piles. An early assessment team has outlined an urgent requirement for helicopters to ferry supplies and victims, as well as equipment to purify water and clear road debris. A primary challenge is the repair of the badly damaged seaport that will make it difficult for ships carrying the kinds of mass amounts of supplies and helicopters needed in a natural disaster to offload their equipment. Planes full of supplies and search-and-rescue equipment began to arrive at Port-au-Prince airport yesterday faster than ground crews could unload them, jamming the limited ramp space and forcing arriving aircraft to circle for up to two hours before landing.

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Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, January 15, 2010:
A man pulls the body of an earthquake victim from a coffin at the cemetery in order to steal the coffin.

(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

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Don't give Haitians a penny, says rightwing U.S. shock jock

January 15, 2010 -- Amid the rash of appeals for Haiti donations has come a call from one of the most prominent voices on the American right for people to hang on to their cash because Barack Obama might steal it. Rush Limbaugh, the most popular radio talkshow host, who is sometimes described as the real leader of the Republican party, says Americans should not give a penny to a population struggling for survival after the earthquake. Limbaugh agreed with a caller suspicious that the White House website was being used to direct funds to the American Red Cross. "Would you trust the money's gonna go to Haiti?" the caller asked. Limbaugh then said Obama was exploiting the disaster for political ends. "This [the earthquake] will play right into Obama's hands," said Limbaugh. "He's humanitarian, compassionate. They'll use this to burnish their, shall we say, credibility with the black community – both light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country. This is made to order for them." Limbaugh also warned Americans against donating money. "Besides, we've already donated to Haiti. It's called the U.S. income tax," he said. The movie critic Roger Ebert responded with an open letter to Limbaugh: "Tens of thousands are believed still alive beneath the rubble. You twisted their suffering into an opportunity to demean the character of the president." The evangelical leader Pat Robertson has also drawn criticism for suggesting Haiti had brought decades of torment on itself by making a pact with the devil to end French rule. The White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, described Robertson's remarks as "utterly stupid". He also condemned Limbaugh: "I think to use the power of your pulpit to try to convince those not to help their brothers and sisters is sad," he said. Crass remarks were not restricted to rightwing Americans. A senior Haitian diplomat was caught on camera claiming the earthquake would be good for his country and appearing to blame the catastrophe on "witchcraft". Speaking before an interview on Brazilian TV, Haiti's consul in São Paulo, George Samuel Antoine, said: "This catastrophe is good for us here, it will make us known."

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Secours Islamique France

Ensemble, agissons aux côtés des victimes d’Haïti

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Muslim Hands

Muslim Hands France se mobilise pour apporter une aide vitale aux sinistrés en leur fournissant en urgence une aide alimentaire, des couvertures, de l’eau potable, des couvertures et des abris qui constituent les besoins les plus pressants.

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