Can Haiti benefit from the experience of the Asian tsunami?

Timon Singh

The 2004 Asian Tsunami that struck on 26 December 2004 affected almost all countries bordering the Indian Ocean and killed almost 230,000 people in fourteen countries. As one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history and the large amount of plight it caused around the world, global donations soared to more than $7 billion in aid.

Rapid response

Like Haiti, the international community was also quick to try and put boots on the ground. In 2004, an Australian engineering team landed within days of the disasters with trucks, earth-moving equipment, and water purification systems. Any ships that were in the area, that weren't damaged, were commandeered to help in the distribution of aid in the region.

In comparison, the US Navy was the only sight that Haitians saw with food-drops and shipments of bottled water. However, criticism has seemingly gone hand in hand with the Haitian relief mission. Whereas in Asia, the disaster was so widespread that aid groups were spread thin to begin with, in Haiti aid groups are being criticised for ineffective aid distribution and failing to act quick enough to help the three million people affected by the earthquake.

Not just that, but the emergency crates of basic essentials were also seemingly missing from the Haitian response unit, so why has Haiti not benefited form the the organisation that Asia received in 2004, despite the vast sums of charity money and aid?

Security concerns

Whereas parts of Asia affected by the tsunami such as Thailand and Laos had been quite prosperous areas, Haiti was already one of the poorest and most desperate countries in the world. The earthquake simply exasperated things. As a result, rumours of looting, food riots and armed gangs made security concerns for aid groups a priority.

In the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, the airport was taken over and secured in scenes reminiscent of Iraq and Afghanistan and a form of 'green zone' maintained, from which aid could be sent out. Meanwhile, well-meaning US military aid was interfering in aid distribution and essentially 'hogging' the runaways and other aerial routes into the countries. Stories abounded of aid groups being diverted or not being given permission to land in favour of a US military transport.

Relief and rescue

While this might all sound like doom and gloom, it isn't. Rescue workers have consistently been finding survivors trapped in the rubble included a man trapped for 12 days and a 15-day old baby who was buried for eight of those days.

The World Food Programme has succeeded in raising hundreds of thousands of dollars of food and a recent US telethon, organised by George Clooney, raised more than $61 million (to date). However, more is still needed and as such, relief teams are still struggling to get power systems running and shelters up and running.

However, with refugee camps sprouting up all around the island, one can't help but think of the tsunami tragedy, Hurricane Katrina and the Sichuan earthquake and hope that lessons have been learnt from those disasters.

Relevant articles:

Haiti: A logistical nightmare | Asia: Home of the strong economies | Megacities in Asia: Benefits or burdens?