Help Haiti Now

Donors who pledged aid must deliver on promises

The Miami Herald
Thursday, June 25, 2009

MIAMI — As of last week, when Haitian Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis visited Miami, Haiti still had not received a penny of the $300 million in hurricane aid promised to the storm-ravaged island by the international community at a donors conference in April.

This is an unacceptably slow response to Haiti's critical needs. With June almost over, the most dangerous part of the hurricane season will soon be upon us. If aid is not received soon, it will be too late to prevent a repetition of the series of disasters that occurred last year when Haiti was hit by four consecutive storms within a matter of weeks, inflicting death, misery and enormous economic damage.

Haiti has barely begun to recover from the trauma of last year's punishing storms, but its needs are vast and its resources are scant. Without international help it cannot reasonably hope to be ready for this year's Caribbean storms, which strike with regularity at this time of year on Hispaniola and other islands in Hurricane Alley.

Pierre-Louis rightly expressed frustration with the international community's failure to deliver on its promises.

It's time for the donors to pony up. A promise made should be a promise delivered, particularly for a country where the needs are great and millions live in poverty.

It makes no sense whatsoever for this country to be offering aid and economic support for Haiti and at the same time deporting Haitians who don't meet the proper immigration requirements. These are the very people whose money transfers to friends and family on the island provide the most direct source of aid. They should remain here while Haiti rebuilds. Here, they can work and help family back home. In Haiti they would only add to the ranks of the needy.