Haiti, a vibrant and beautiful country – look deeper -, that has had a really bad run of luck. First they get hit by a record breaking Hurricane, then an Earthquake flattens anything left stand and finally the UN arrive with a special surprise, Cholera. While the soldiers carrying the bacteria have unknowingly spread the disease the outbreak has been devastating to an already struggling population. Since the UN’s arrival and the beginning of the outbreak , 2010, over 7,000 Haitians have died and 526,000 have become ill with Cholera.
A Haitian law firm and its international partners have filed a complaint against the United Nations last year on behalf of the victims. The legal team is seeking $100,000 compensation for each of the victims family. There is also a class action lawsuit attempting get the UN to rebuild the countries water purification systems. These complaints are under review by the world body’s legal office, but the wheels of justice move very slowly in the UN.
Two studies form the basis of the UN report released recently, even the UN report admitted the Cholera outbreak began at the sewage outlet next to the UN camp. Even though the various reports have pinpointed the beginning of the outbreak the UN appointed international panel has blamed the outbreak and rapid spread on a confluence of circumstances, from poor sanitation to almost zero water purification facilities after the devastating earthquake. So while the UN may take the blame they will not take responsibility for the situation, the legal action may change that situation though.
The camps sewage treatment facilities weren’t operational at the time of the outbreak begining, allowing raw sewage to empty into the nearby river.. The study has even pinpointed the the UN workers who were carry the cholera bacteria. A number of Nepalese UN workers who where in camp at the time are thought to have been the carriers. They may not have even known they were infected.
Even Bill Clinton has chimed in on the situation with the Washington post reporting “First of all, the United Nations has spent a great deal of money in Haiti. Secondly, I don’t know that the person who introduced cholera in Haiti, the U.N. peace-keeper, or soldier from South Asia, was aware that he was carrying the virus.” Clinton added: “It was the proximate cause of cholera. That is, he was carrying the cholera strain. It came from his waste stream into the waterways of Haiti, into the bodies of Haitians.”
Can someone please buy Haiti a lotto ticket or rabbits foot, they really do need all the help they can get, a little bit of luck wouldn’t go astray either. The UN are looking at a bill of Billions of dollars if they stand up and do the right thing in this situation. Hell its not their money anyway, and justice is never cheap.
Reference: BBC News
Reference: Washington Post
Reference: Aljazeerah
