council of the european union tel: +32

8/14/2019 Council of the European Union Tel: +32

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Council of the European Union

Tel: +32 (0) 2 281 50 00 - Fax: +32 (0) 2 281 58 53/54E-mail : [email protected] - Internet : http://ue.eu.int

Haiti Update20/01/2010,12h00

Situation overview

On 18 January, the Government of Haiti (GoH) and UN reported that 80,000 people had alreadybeen buried. The current estimate of the death toll by the Haitian authorities is between 100,000and 200,000 people. Hospitals are overwhelmed, but feared infectious diseases have not shownup so far.

Search and rescue (SAR) teams are continuing to work. International SAR teams reported fourmore live rescues on 19 January. The revised total of lives saved by these teams is over 121people. As of 19 January, there are 36 international search-and-rescue teams remaining. It isexpected that SAR will be called off within 48 hours, but teams have been asked to continueworking to assist with humanitarian activities.

SAR activity and the delivery of assistance are increasingly moving beyond Port-au-Prince toother affected areas such as Jacmel, Carrefour and Logne.

Priority actions are now shifting from SAR towards organising airlift capacity, the removal of rubble and debris, and the re-establishment of emergency services, utilities andtelecommunications. Medical supplies, water and sanitation, tents, blankets, food, fuel andtransport equipment remain priorities for the relief supply and distribution. A main concern forthe GoH continues to be the revitalisation of economic activities. Bank activities could not starton 19 January and are now planned to come into effect on 21 January.

Security situation

Overall security situation in Port-au-Prince remains stable. The UN advises all partners to followthe established security rules and to only distribute assistance when accompanied by adequatesecurity personnel. Several of the capitals neighbourhoods remain difficult to access due tosecurity. GoH imposed a night time curfew for Port-Au Prince on 18 January. Security analysis isconducted on a daily basis in order to ensure adequate security provisions for the internationalteams on site.

The UN Security Council has unanimously endorsed the Secretary-General's recommendation toincrease the overall force levels of MINUSTAH to support immediate recovery, reconstruction


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and stability efforts. MINUSTAH will increase its military component to 8,940 troops and its

police component to 3,711 police. This represents an increase of 3,500 uniformed personnel(troops and police). There are currently some 3,500 uniformed MINUSTAH personnel in Port-au-Prince and over 5,000 additional personnel in other parts of the country.

Some 20 US Black Hawk helicopters landed on the grounds of Haiti's presidential palace todeploy troops and supplies on 19 January. Their first objective was to secure the nearby hospital.At the same time, some 130 marines arrived in Logne, 30 km west of Port-au-Prince, as thefirst deployment of a total of 2200 marines, to liaise with the UN troops.

Logistics

The airport at Port-au-Prince remains extremely congested. At 02:00AM of 19 January a holdwas placed on air traffic due to air space saturation and this was reportedly still the case at06:00AM. According to media sources, the US is planning to open new runways for aircraftlanding in order to ease the congestion of the main airport. The first additional runway should beopened in 24 hours, near Jacmel. This runway will be able to receive Hercules C-130 aircraft.

Three WFP-chartered helicopters will arrive in-country on 24 January. These are planned tooperate out of Barahona, Dominican Republic, and will be used for deliveries to key locationswithin Haiti where security is a concern and road convoy protection is not adequate. One WFP-contracted cargo airplane will be used to shuttle goods from the airport in Santo Domingo toPort-au-Prince.

In response to scarce fuel resources, WFP has signed a fuel contract with Shell in SantoDomingo. The Logistics Cluster organised 10,000 gallons of fuel to be transported by truck fromSanto Domingo. GoH reports that they have two week fuel supply on hand.

The Logistics Cluster has also secured 3,500 square metres of warehousing for inter-agency usein Port-au-Prince. Ten mobile storage units are due to arrive in-country on 21 January, and fifteenmore units next week.

According to the US Department of State, the main seaport in Port-au-Prince should be reopened(at minimum capacity) by 21 January so that heavy equipment can be offloaded.

The road from Santo Domingo, via Jimani to Port-au-Prince (approx. 300 km) remainscongested. According to recent reports, the transit time for the first leg (Santo Domingo-Jimani)is from 8 to 9 hours. MINUSTAH escorts are provided for the second leg (Jimani-Port-au-Prince). Road access west of Port-au-Prince is generally good.

MINUSTAH began broadcasting on 94.9 FM in Port-au-Prince. The humanitarian community isworking with local radio stations to get messages out on the distribution of aid and medicalassistance.


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20 complete water purification units are operational in Port-au-Prince; based on current

assessments there is no additional need as regards water purification.

Electricity systems are reported still largely non-operational. Power remains off in all areasassessed, although the electricity distribution system appears mostly intact.

OCHA have announced that 20,000 family tents are needed immediately.

All activities of the European Civil Protection Team (EUCPT) are conducted in full integrationwith the UNDAC team and OCHA staff on site. With the cluster approach put into place, allincoming aid, including the European assistance, is integrated in the relevant cluster wherecoordination of activities, gap analysis and information sharing is taking place. The UN intends

to establish a new base camp for 200 assistance workers within one week. It is clear that thedemand will eventually exceed the capacity.

Distribution of aid

Emergency relief distributions are continuing on a daily basis. They include food, water, waterpurification tablets, medical supplies and shelter material. However, a formal distribution systemis not yet in place and the needs are greater than the response. Despite logistical and securityconstraints, the affected population is receiving an increasing number of relief supplies. Aid hasstarted reaching people in areas west of Carrefour and in Jacmel.

The Government has designated eight zones for the distribution of humanitarian assistance. Eachzone will receive direct support by a national minister to coordinate the relief effort. Theseinclude: 1) Petionville and Kenscoff; 2) Carrefour; 3) Gressier; 4) Petit Goave, Grand Goaveand Logne; 4) Tabarre; 5) Cabaret and Croix de Bouquets; 6) Delmar; 7) Jacmel; and 8) Port auPrince Municipality.

WFP implemented distributions of various food items to approximately 59,300 people inside andoutside Port-au-Prince on 18 January. This is less than what was reported (100,000 people) due tolack of security escorts and injuries to military staff that were helping. Some 60,000 more wereexpected to be reached with food on 19 January, provided logistical difficulties could be

overcome. Additional food distribution assistance has been provided by NGOs, the municipalauthorities and the Dominican Republic. WFP has announced that it will be able to provide 100million meals over the next month.

The WASH Cluster reports that water distribution has been constrained by limited fuel supplies.Distribution was planned for 176 distribution points on 19 January. The provision of water tohospitals, gathering sites and common areas are the priorities.


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Health and Medical issues

The emergency medical supplies are continuing on a daily basis. At least 13 hospitals areworking in the Port-au-Prince area bringing in medical supplies to treat 120,000 people over thenext month. The main medical priorities identified are surgical and orthopaedic emergencies,trauma care (wounds and injuries), obstetrics care and communicable diseases, as well aspsychosocial care for survivors. There is an increased risk of death as open wounds and fracturesgo untreated. Medical teams warned of the immediate threats of tetanus and gangrene, as well asthe spread of measles, meningitis and other infections, although based on the epidemiologicalreports, the number of reported communicable diseases in Haiti and along the border withDominican Republic remains stable.

Working conditions in hospitals are reported to be difficult, with a lack of electricity and water,insufficient bed-space and an urgent need for surgeons, nurses, equipment and medicines.Medical services are also still being provided outdoors, in makeshift spaces as health facilities areovercrowded or have poor hygiene.

Health assessments are expanding their focus to include health needs in towns outside Port-au-Prince. In addition, they are looking at the status of pre-existing hospitals to determine theircapacity to provide care.

The Haitian Health Ministry (MOH) has created a National Health Commission to coordinate thelocal and international response. It has defined three levels of healthcare: mobile health centres,fixed health centres (minor health problems), and hospitals with surgical capacities.

The national morgue, located at Haitis University Hospital (HUEH), is completely full and hasno electricity so dead bodies have been left outside of the morgue. The Haitian authorities havestarted spraying caustic soda over bodies and buildings where bodies have still not beenrecovered. The US is trying to move in 6000 gallons of fuel and refrigerated container to act as amorgue.

Protections issues

The UN Protection Cluster, headed by the UNICEF and Save the Children, began meeting on 18January. Partners are establishing a system for displaced children, and the cluster will issueguidance on management of displaced children in the coming days. The cluster plans to establishchild-friendly centres soon.

Orphans and children abandoned in Haiti after the earthquake should be adopted abroad only as alast resort, the UNICEF said on 19 January. UNICEF is trying to identify and registerunaccompanied children whose parents have been killed or are missing after the quake. UNICEF


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spokeswoman Veronique Taveau said the agency feared child trafficking could also occur.

"UNICEF's position has always been that whatever the humanitarian situation, familyreunification must be favoured," Taveau told a news briefing.

Migration flows

There has been a large influx of people arriving in Miragoane (Nippes department) from Port-au-Prince. Similarly, some 5,000 people have arrived in Grand Anse department by boat and road,including injured people.

According to the US Department of State, there are no indications that there will be a massmigration to the north i.e. US. On 18 January, DG ECHO experts in Port-au-Prince reported

Haitians queuing at foreign missions and embassies in the tens of thousands.

Consular overview

From the 2400 to 2700 EU nationals, which were assumed to be in Haiti at the moment of theearthquake, some 908 to 933 remain unaccounted for. 34 deaths and 10 injured have beenconfirmed. 22 more nationals are presumed death. The MINUSTAH logbase remains the mainassembly point for EU nationals seeking evacuation. On 20 January, 882 EU nationals hadalready been evacuated from Haiti. The number of EU citizens in need of evacuation isdiminishing.

Taking into account the large number of planes that have left Europe lately or are about to leave,the MIC sees a need in sharing planes from the Haiti region to Europe. Therefore, participatingstates are advised to plan in advance exit strategies of their SAR teams. States having a sparecapacity on flights towards Europe and willing to pool transport resources are invited to informthe MIC in order to organise a cost-efficient return of people and equipment.

EU Member States have started to exchange details on the issue of the repatriation of the mortalremains of deceased EU nationals. It was mentioned that this will be most likely be taken care off by the specialised company "Kenyon International Emergency Services".

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