February 11, 2010
With hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Haitians living in make-shift camps, the lack of rain since the earthquake has been a relief. Today, however, Reuters reports that:
Heavy rain drenched earthquake survivors in the tent camps of the Haitian capital on Thursday, bringing a warning of fresh misery to come for the 1 million people living on the streets.
One month after the earthquake, shelter has not been provided for the vast majority of displaced Haitians. With rains come an increased likelihood of disease, that experts say could spread like wildfire throughout the make-shift camps. Displaced Haitians have the right to shelter, and without urgent steps to provide this shelter, there will surely be many more preventable deaths.
The EU announced today that it will begin a military operation to provide shelter, however, efforts to provide tents or other structures have been marred by poor coordination.
