Statement by Joel Charny, Acting President, on the Devastating Earthquake in Haiti
"Refugees International is distressed by the magnitude of the destruction and loss of life as the result of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti. We express our condolences to the families of the victims, many of whom were already facing a daily struggle to survive in one of the poorest countries in the world.
"No one was immune from
the quake's destructive force. It struck the United Nations mission in
Haiti especially hard, with 16 peacekeepers dead and 150 employees
missing, including distinguished UN civil servants Hedi Annabi and Luis
Carlos da Costa, the chief and deputy chief of the mission respectively.
"In the coming days the focus will be on rescue and emergency medical
care. This is a time for professionals. With the Haitian airport
damaged and flight capacity limited, the priority for external
personnel should be given to the staff of international aid
organizations with a proven capacity to assist in the immediate
aftermath of an emergency of this magnitude. Haiti had a vibrant civil
society prior to the quake. Locating survivors among Haitian community
aid organizations and supporting their efforts should also be an
important component of the relief effort.
"The emergency comes at an interesting moment for the Obama
administration. The new Administrator for the U.S. Agency for
International Development, Dr. Rajiv Shah, was sworn in a mere five
days before the earthquake. Shah's impressive background, which
includes medical and health economics degrees from the University of
Pennsyvania, seven years at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and
a short stint as Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics
at the Department of Agriculture, does not include experience working
on large-scale natural or man-made disasters. Now, a week into the job,
he has to manage the largest immediate emergency response yet mounted
by the Obama administration.
"The pivotal issue is the extent to which Dr. Shah and the civilians
around him will be in control of the U.S. response. The U.S. military
is mobilizing quickly, with Navy ships and helicopters and a 2,000
member Marine unit on their way to Haiti. Their logistical capacity ---
to get the port functioning, to provide heavy lift equipment, to
transport survivors to emergency medical facilities --- will be
invaluable, as it was in the case of the 2004 Asian tsunami. One task
for the Marines will be to support the UN peacekeepers in maintaining
law and order in a chaotic situation. Such policing is vital to
creating an environment for relief workers to carry out their
life-saving work.
"The overall premise should that civilians are leading the effort,
coordinating the use of all available assets, including those of the
military. The Haiti response is a critical early test of the ability of
Dr. Shah and the Obama administration to reverse a long-standing trend
towards the militarization of humanitarian response."
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