Irish aid agency Goal has welcomed a suggestion by the United Nations that it plans to deploy up to 5,000 policemen on the streets of Haiti’s capital Port au Prince to cope with the security crisis following Tuesday’s earthquake.
Three days after the earthquake struck, gangs of robbers had begun preying on survivors living in makeshift camps on streets strewn with debris and decomposing bodies.
Authorities reported some looting and growing anger among survivors despairing over the delay in life-saving assistance.
Chief executive John O’Shea said: “This is the most sensible idea hatched by the international community since the disaster struck”.
“Given the potential for wholesale violence and looting in the capital, it is absolutely imperative that this decision is taken and that the police are sent in without a moments delay,” he said.
“Unless law and order is restored and maintained in the Haitian capital — all the plans and strategies for a massive relief and recovery effort could fail spectacularly.
Aid committed by at least 30 countries began arriving in Port-au-Prince in dozens of planes that clogged the city's small airport. Because of the delays on flights, some relief groups and governments routed aid through the neighbouring Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
Mr O’Shea yesterday called on the United States to take immediate action to ensure aid can at last begin flowing into Haiti to tackle the growing humanitarian catastrophe in the country.
He has also praised the generosity of the Irish public, which has donated more than €1 million since the earthquake struck Haiti on Tuesday, killing and wounding tens of thousands of people.
“We’ve received at least €350,000 in donations in the first two days of the campaign, which is exceptionally generous. But no one wants to see this money sitting in bank accounts and unable to be used because aid can’t get in,” said Mr O’Shea.
International relief agencies have renewed their appeals for donations to help victims of the Haiti earthquake as first consignments of aid reach the devastated country.
The Irish Red Cross said yesterday it was sending further €100,000 in emergency aid to Haiti. It sent some €25,000 to the country yesterday.
Donal O’Reilly, a Dubliner working for the Catholic Relief Services who arrived in Haiti yesterday, said distribution of aid was slow because the airport had limited capacity and the main port was damaged.
He said some semblance of everyday life was gradually returning to Port-au-Prince with market stalls popping up among the rubble of buildings but there were also reports of looting.