Leave politics out of Humanitarian Aid
by Firoz Osman
2010-02-02 14:15
THE remarkable achievement of hauling out 134 lives from the rubble
of the devastating Haiti earthquake merits acclaim for the humanitarian
organisations that responded to the disaster.
The heroic feat of saving each single valuable life has been
splashed across the world’s media, bringing occasional cheer to a tragic event
that resulted in the death of an estimated 200,000 people.
However, a darker side to providing aid to the destitute by relief
organisations and countries has emerged. There have been accusations that
countries seek to exploit this catastrophe to promote a hidden agenda.
The USA and France have been guilty of impoverishing Haiti,
extorting billions of dollars for 200 years from the first independent Black
country of former slaves.
As was their wont, the Western world supported the brutal Haitian
dictatorships of “Papa” and “Baby” Doc Duvalier, who murdered thousands of human
rights activists.
It is a pity that the USA, Israel and their allies bullied other
relief agencies by commandeering the airport and palace at a time when the
priority was to have been to alleviate the immense suffering of the victims.
A state of emergency was declared, imposing martial law conditions
that were enforced by the US military. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton had
demanded the imposition of the emergency decree during her visit to Haiti on
Saturday.
“The decree would give the government an enormous amount of
authority, which in practice they would delegate to us,” Clinton declared.
Analysts predict that the Haitian emergency decree will give the US
military a legal pretext for the suppression of the entire population.
“We need a safe and secure environment to be successful,” said
General Ken Keen of the US Southern Command, which oversees the Haiti operation.
Keen warned of “increasing incidents of security . . . we are going
to have to deal with it as we go forward”.
Relief flights from China, Italy, Brazil and numerous aid
organizations have also been diverted.
The Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders both reported their
flights had been forced to land in the Dominican Republic, which shares the
island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
The overland route adds eight or nine hours to relief delivery, the
Red Cross said.
Doctors Without Borders reported its surgeons were unable to help
the sick and dying for 48 hours, on account of the delay.
Lest we forget, the first humanitarian aid arrived from Cuba and
Venezuela.
Dr Firoz Osman
Secretary-General,
Media Review Network