Haiti aid agencies fear riots at food drops

Helping hand: former US president Bill Clinton unloads aid in Port-au-Prince
12 April 2012

Emergency food drops in Haiti could trigger further unrest and start riots, aid agencies warned today.

As US troops parachuted more than 14,000 packaged meals and water supplies into the capital Port-au-Prince, there were fears it could lead to more fighting between Haitians desperate food.

Charities expressed concern over yesterday's airdrops saying more effective methods of distributing aid should be found.

Hannah Reichardt, an emergency adviser with Save the Children, said: "We have a very big concern with aid drops in general as they can be very inexact.

"The fittest and healthiest are more likely to get them as they can run faster. This leaves the more vulnerable going without. As a result there is a high risk of rioting."

The drops by a C-17 from Pope Air Force base in North Carolina were an attempt to overcome severe supply problems, including a lack of fuel.

Relief efforts were further hampered by violence and looting in Port-au-Prince, where about 3,000 inmates of the national jail have escaped onto the streets.

But Miss Reichardt said the drops could be replaced with more reliable aid distribution methods.

"Aid drops are not very effective and are very expensive," she said. "We would question whether it would in that case be better just to get a JCB to clear the roads instead."

It is estimated that last week's earthquake has left 200,000 dead and 1.5  million homeless.

That would make the disaster comparable to 2004's Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed an estimated 230,000 people.

Tens of thousands of Haitians are living in makeshift tent villages outside the capital awaiting food and medical treatment, while search and rescue staff, including teams from the UK, continue the search for survivors in rubble.

The British Government has trebled the amount of money it is giving in aid to more than £20 million, and a Disasters Emergency Committee appeal has so far raised £25 million following its launch last week.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown today said the coming days would present a "test" of whether the official organisations of the international community could live up to the compassion shown to Haiti by ordinary people around the world.

He said: "People across Britain and Europe have shown enormous generosity. Now, in the coming hours and days, we must continue to improve our effort at rescuing the people of Haiti and begin the reconstruction of this troubled and fated country.

"No one can fail to be moved by the scenes we are seeing from Haiti. No  one can fail to be moved to action.

"This is now a test of the international community. It is a test of our compassion. It is a test of our resolve. And it is also a test of our ability to co-ordinate our actions together.

"We will do everything we can to ensure that the compassion that has been shown by British people and people all over the world is matched by a co-ordinated international effort to help the people of Haiti."

Haiti emergency appeal

Merlin is a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee. You can donate to the DEC Haiti appeal online at www.dec.org.uk or by calling 0370 60 60 900.

For more information about Merlin's Haiti response please go to: www.merlin.org.uk or call 020 7014 1714.

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