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Caricom mercy mission heading to Haiti

Posted by CaribShout on January 14, 2010 at 7:59pm

What's being described as a Caricom mercy mission is to make a first-hand assessment of the earthquake devastation in Haiti. Caribbean leaders offered their sympathies to the people of Haiti and said they were making immediate relief and financial assistance available to help with the largest natural disaster to hit the country in 200 years. Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana have pledged US$1million each to Haiti to help with immediate relief efforts. Other regional governments have also said they will contribute. A full team from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency(Cdema) was expected in Haiti by Friday. An advance delegation was due on Thursday. Cdema says a Jamaica Defence Force vessel with technical, medical and military personnel and relief supplies has been sent to Haiti. The organisation also reports that several Caricom countries have offered support in the form of military assistance, search and rescue teams, medical personnel, artisans and aircraft. OAS stepping in to help Organisation of American States Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin expects to be part of an OAS team heading for Haiti within the next few days. Ambassador Ramdin says the organisation's immediate priority is to mobilise for search and rescue operations in the coming 72 hours. He told BBC Caribbean that several rescue teams from OAS member states and permanent observers including China, France and Spain have already been dispatched to Haiti. “We already have some shipments going in via the Dominican Republic destined for Haiti,” he said. Migrants advice for Caricom Caricom's Ambassador to Haiti, Earl Huntley, says Caribbean nations should be prepared to accept any increase of migrants from Haiti. Mr Huntley escaped the earthquake because he's currently on vacation in his native St Lucia. He said efforts to integrate Haiti within Caricom were hurt by current restrictions on Haitian immigrants. Already the Bahamas government has announced that its indefinitely postponing all repatriation of undocumented Haitian migrants. It says contingency plans are being prepared in the event of an influx of Haitian refugees. Meanwhile, in Antigua and Barbuda, National Security Minister Errol Cort has been responding to concerns raised about a possible influx of Haitians to his country. Mr Cort emphasised that there were much more pressing matters to contend with. “We are not there as yet,” he said, “we are still trying to deal the issues of loss of life, home, food etc. “Once we have passed this particular hurdle, then these other issues would then be on the table for consideration." Mr Cort said the Antigua and Barbuda approach "is really to take a Caricom approach." Haiti's Caribbean diaspora Haitians living in other parts of the Caribbean have welcomed the regional and international community's response to Tuesday's earthquake, and are trying to make their own input. Patience Chinwada reports that leaders of Haitian associations across the region including Dominica, Jamaica and St Maarten have been mobilising their own communities to donate emergency supplies.
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Tags: aid, caribbean, caribshout, earthquake, haiti, yelehaiti

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