19 January 2010

Haitian Police, U.N. Providing Security for Relief Efforts

 

The U.N.’s peacekeeping force in Haiti, MINUSTAH, has been in the country since 2004 and suffered its own losses in the earthquake.

The U.N.’s peacekeeping force in Haiti, MINUSTAH, has been in the country since 2004 and suffered its own losses in the earthquake.

By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer

Washington — The Obama administration welcomed the decision by the United Nations Security Council to increase troops and police for the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), which is the main force providing security in the country following the January 12 earthquake.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1908 was adopted unanimously January 19 and calls for 2,000 additional soldiers and 1,500 more police to support MINUSTAH’s efforts to provide enough stability and safety for the distribution of the humanitarian assistance that continues to flow in from around the world.

U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Alejandro Wolff said he is pleased by the authorization of additional forces, which will help secure aid corridors and distribution routes in the country.

“The core security and stabilization role is for the U.N., and we will support them how best we can,” Wolff told reporters in New York January 19. He added, “I don’t know of any plans to have U.S. troops … under MINUSTAH.”

U.S. forces have been in Haiti specifically to help aid distribution. In a January 18 interview, U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Kenneth Merten said U.S. military personnel are also available to provide security if asked, but the combined efforts of MINUSTAH, which has been in the country since 2004, and Haiti’s own police forces have so far been meeting the security needs.

“They are providing security. They’re on the street. They’re present. They are doing the job,” Merten said.

Ambassador Wolff said Haitian authorities and the United Nations are also in the lead of the international assistance effort and setting the relief priorities. “The United States is there to work together with them in support of their efforts, not to supplant their efforts,” he said.

He added that along with President Obama’s initial contribution of $100 million to the Haitian government, the United States “will also be contributing a significant amount under the flash appeal” for $560 million that the United Nations announced January 15.

Following the U.N. vote, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the “extraordinary times” caused by the natural disaster “call for extraordinary measures and extraordinary decisiveness.”

“The Security Council sent a clear signal that the world is with Haiti. We are making rapid progress despite extremely difficult challenges,” he said. He urged member nations to “get these extra forces on the ground as soon as possible so that they can help maintain order and deliver humanitarian assistance.”

The secretary-general said the high demand for relief items and the difficult circumstances have made aid delivery difficult in some cases, but there is “a well-structured framework of coordination” in place. The U.N.’s cluster systems that help to organize aid distribution are “now working properly,” he said, and there will be “a much improved situation in terms of coordination, in terms of delivering aid to people who need it.”

Help save lives in Haiti: Visit the White House Web site for options. The International Committee of the Red Cross provides a service to help people find loved ones, and the State Department has a Person Finder where people can post information about persons missing in Haiti.