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Haiti Earthquake: UN agrees to send 3500 more Peacekeepers

by Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke | January 20, 2010 at 03:30 am

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While airlift to Port-au-Prince has picked up and supplies are arriving at an unprecedented rate, distribution continues to be a major problem in Haiti.

People, desperate for food and water, will do desperate things, raising major security concerns. While foreign presence is not a major concern for Haitians, the American presence has raised concern with some. Last century Americans arrived and stayed for 19 years.

This said, most Haitians are appreciative of the foreign presence, including that of the Americans. Yesterday U.S. soldiers arrived on the grounds of the Presidential Palace and tried to hand out food through gates. Mob rule eventually broke them down.

The EU Commission now estimates that approximately 200,000 have been killed as a result of the earthquake. Some 70,000 bodies have been transported to mass graves.

To boost up security, the UN has agreed to send an additional 3500 peacekeepers and police officers into the troubled country. This will supplement the 7,000 peacekeeper already in place.

The increase brings the UN committment to 8900 troops and 3711 police officers. The increase is needed to escort humanitarian convoys.

Canada is working closely with the UN and is prepared to send more police officers.

2000 of those will be military, while 1500 will be police officers.

Port-au-Prince has 2100 police officers patrolling the streets, which is about half of those that patrolled the streets prior to the quake.

Two additional airports will be opened in the next few days, one near Jacmel where the Canadian contingent is operating and another in the Dominican Republic. The Port of Port-au-Prince has been made partially useable which will permit additional supplies to arrive.

Many believe that Haiti will be a major commitment for the UN for some time to come. To finance this international effort $5-10 Billion dollars have been tossed around as an initial financial commitment.

This is an opportunity to rebuild Haiti for the Haitian people and a new start.

The was an afterschock of 6.1 magnitude near 4 am MST this morning.

The United Nations agreed Tuesday to send 3,500 more peacekeepers and police to Haiti -- a decision that came amid rising tension between relief workers and increasingly desperate earthquake survivors.

About 2,000 UN soldiers will join 7,000 already on the ground. An international police force of approximately 2,100 will receive about 1,500 additional members, in an effort to maintain security and support earthquake relief efforts.

The latest casualty report from the European Commission, which cited Haitian government figures, doubled previous estimates of the dead, to approximately 200,000. Some 70,000 bodies have now been recovered from the rubble and trucked off to mass graves.

European Commission analysts estimate another 250,000 have been injured and a staggering 1.5 million are now homeless.

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marianmo

at 05:49 on January 20th, 2010

ty for the update karl

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 05:51 on January 20th, 2010

You;re welcome Marian

Barry ORegan

at 07:24 on January 20th, 2010

Good story

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 08:21 on January 20th, 2010

Thanks for commenting and don't forget our Canadian troops in Jecmal:) Thanks for keeping the comments positive.

marianmo

at 09:10 on January 20th, 2010

it is important not to just focus on US trops in haiti but the other nations who are contributing....without order and security not much will be accomplished