UK turns off aid to Haiti
(Timesonline): Britain has pledged no new aid for the reconstruction of Haiti and will be the only big economy not represented at ministerial level at a landmark donor conference in New York today to plan the country’s future, The Times has learnt. As Hillary Clinton and the former President Bill Clinton lead a top-level American delegation to the conference, Britain will be represented by Philip Parham, the Deputy Ambassador to the UN. Brazil, France, Canada, Spain, Japan and the Irish Republic as well as the US are sending senior ministers. Nearly three months after one of the worst natural disasters of modern times, a Haitian government report places the death toll at 220,000 while the people believe that twice that number were killed.
More than a million homeless Haitians are still in urgent need of basic humanitarian aid, yet the UN has reported a slump in donations to its top-priority relief fund.
Aid agencies expressed bewilderment at Britain’s low-key presence at a conference that could determine the fate of ambitious plans to lift Haiti out of its cycle of poverty and crisis.
Category: World News
I would imagine they took a look at the situation as they have done elsewhere in the globe, ignored the desperate conditions and the humanity involved and thought to themselves…….."What’s in it for us?" Unfortunately If Haiti had oil or natural resources to exploit you can be assured the U.K. would have been at the forefront. As they were in Iraq.
As a Brit with a passion for helping Haiti I am utterly and completely ashamed of the UK. I don’t care how bad their economy is, the lack of response from them as regards Haiti is disgraceful.