‘Darkest Days’: Haiti honors 2010 earthquake victims | Globalism

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Haitians in Haiti and their supporters across the United States commemorated the catastrophic 2010 earthquake that struck this Caribbean nation on Wednesday, marking the twelfth anniversary of the devastation with sadness and reflection.

“In the immediate aftermath, a huge outpouring of support poured into Haiti from across the United States and around the world to help survivors and rebuild the nation,” said US Representative Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., who represents one of the largest Haitians. American communities in the United States. “However, 12 years later, there is still a lot to do if Haiti is to rebuild and become self-sufficient.”

The 7.0-magnitude quake killed 316,000 people and displaced 1.5 million, according to Haitian government figures. 1.5 million people were injured.

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Despite billions of dollars in promised aid, reconstruction has not taken root and promises have not been kept. Haiti today is much worse than it was on the day the earth shook and almost destroyed the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Thousands remain internally displaced by the natural disaster, and others have also been displaced by recent gang violence in the capital. For every Roman Catholic church and destroyed home, there are dozens of other buildings that lie in ruins or where construction has stalled, including the new Haiti State University hospital, promised by the United States and France, and the Parliament building.

The country remains in the midst of a deep political crisis following the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moss, an unsolved crime. Instead of an elected president or a functioning parliament, the country has a temporary prime minister and only ten members of the Senate, the end of their terms still being debated.

Other ongoing fallout from the earthquake: Three US Immigration and Customs Enforcement flights landed in Haiti on Wednesday, courtesy of the Biden administration. Immigration advocates say many of those on board are Haitians who left their homeland for South America in the wake of the disaster, only to find themselves deported after recently crossing into the United States without proper documentation.

“As we commemorate more than 250,000 people killed in the 2010 earthquake, it is inconceivable that the United States would respond by sending three deportations to Haiti including pregnant women and children. Those are just 10 this week alone,” Guerlain-Joseph said. Co-founder of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, an immigration advocacy group. “It is a classic example of the continued violence the United States is imposing on Haiti and the blatant disregard for Haitian lives. I want to know how the Haitian government can accept this on a day like today.”

We have a long way ahead of us

In Haiti, flags were raised on half the staff, and Prime Minister Ariel Henry, along with members of his cabinet and the diplomatic corps, performed the annual pilgrimage to Titanian, the site outside the capital where most of the dead were buried in mass graves. barren mountain There, they laid flowers on a monument with a large boulder on top, in memory of the dead.

Documenting the deceased as Chief of Staff for the Secretary of Health in 2010 said Henry, whose job was in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake.

The United Nations Office in Haiti, which lost staff in Haiti when part of the Christopher Hotel, where it was headquartered, collapsed has been dubbed January 12, 2010, “one of the darkest days” in Haiti’s history.

“Twelve years ago, a devastating earthquake claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in Haiti, including 102 members of the UN family,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a tweet on Twitter. “Today and every day, we remember the victims and honor their legacy through our work. They will never be forgotten.”

In a statement, the UN Country Team said it remained committed to the country, and noted that the same kind of resilience shown in the aftermath of the earthquake was also on display on August 14, when a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck three regional counties, Grande Anse. Neb and the South, leaving at least 2,207 dead, 12,268 injured and 320 missing, along with more than 129,000 homes destroyed or damaged.

Although the numbers are well below the losses in 2010, they are still high, said the country’s chief seismologist, Claude Pribet, when considering the magnitude of the August quake and the population density of the sprawling rural area.

By the time the August quake struck, Haiti had already recorded 34 smaller earthquakes, with magnitudes ranging from 1.8 to 4.7 in the southern provinces, he said in the latest seismic activity report from the Bureau of Mines and Seismology Technology Unit of the Bureau of Mines and Energy. The August 14 earthquake itself caused more than 1,000 aftershocks.

Pribet said all residents should always be vigilant.

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