Two weeks after Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti on 4 October, the scope of the humanitarian situation is becoming clear. The death toll has passed 1,000 and cholera is beginning to spread on the island.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that 1.4 million people require humanitarian assistance in the country of 10 million. This includes an estimated 175,000 people left homeless. Haitians waiting in the town of Les Cayes for an aid delivery to a U.N. base protested the slow dispersal of humanitarian aid on the island. The U.N. has called for $120 million USD to be dedicated to hurricane relief in Haiti, but only 13% of this total has been committed by the international community.
The Presidential elections that were postponed after Hurricane Matthew have now been rescheduled for November 20. The elections will replace a provisional government that has been in power after the 2015 elections were invalidated.
Camilian missionaries in Haiti have reported that damages are overwhelming in cities such as Jeremie, which they described as "virtually destroyed". They also said that farmers' crops were destroyed and it is urgent to secure other food sources. Caritas, Manos Unidas and Catholic Relief Services are two of the Catholic organizations involved in relief efforts.
Meanwhile in Tijuana, Mexico, Haitians have arrived in the thousands this year, seeking entry to the United States. Many left Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and resettled in Brazil. Due to the economic downturn in Brazil, they have headed north, hoping to enter the US However, the US has repealed the protected immigration status extended to Haitians after the earthquake and they are now subject to deportation proceedings. Deportations have been suspended in the wake of Hurricane Matthew but will resume when the situation improves.
PICTURE (clockwise from top left) - Church services continue in the stricken country despite the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew; more than 1,000 people have already been killed and many more injured; Washington Redskins NFL gridiron player Ricky Jean Francois - who was born in Florida of Haitian parents was one of a group of players who visited Port-au-Prince with supplies this week and wore these special 'cleats' on game day this Sunday; and Ban Ki-moon saw a humanitarian food truck ransacked by looters on a walkabout in Haiti on Saturday
The US is only allowing approximately 100 Haitians to cross per day, so their ranks are growing in Tijuana. The bishop of Tijuana Francisco Moreno Barron has urged parishes to house Haitian migrants stranded in the border city. “Mexico may go down in history for its humanitarian vocation and can give an example of how it treats migrants in a situation like the present,” Moreno Barron said. Catholic organisations such as the Salesian Padre Chava shelter have been providing shelter and food to Haitians in Tijuana over the past months.
Meanwhile, Ban Ki-moon, UN general secretary, has promised that the UN will deliver more humanitarian aid to the country after witnessing a convoy of trucks carrying aid from the World Food Program being attacked by desperate looters close to the UN base in Les Cayes.
"I firmly condemn all attacks against humanitarian convoys. Today I personally witnessed a WFP (World Food Program) truck being attacked," he told reporters at a press conference during his visit to Haiti over the weekend.
"We are going to mobilise as many resources and as much medical support as we can to first of all stop the cholera epidemic and second support the families of the victims. We understand the impatience and the anger of the population who are waiting for emergency relief. We are doing all we can to facilitate the arrival of the assistance soon as possible," Ban added.
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