State Dept Addresses Migration Problems Stemming From Earthquake In Haiti

Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Eric P. Schwartz announced in the Dominican Republic yesterday that the Department of State will make additional planned contributions totaling $10.5 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to support the people of Haiti and the Dominican Republic in the aftermath of the January earthquake. He has been in the Dominican Republic since April 27^th and will travel to Haiti through April 30^th.

In the Dominican Republic, Assistant Secretary Schwartz and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Julissa Reynoso met with Dominican Republic government officials to reiterate the United States government’s appreciation for the generous assistance of both the Dominican Republic’s government and its private citizens to the people of Haiti following the earthquake. Assistant Secretary Schwartz also discussed ways the U.S. government can help address continuing challenges on both sides of the border resulting from the earthquake.

In Haiti, Assistant Secretary Schwartz and U.S. Agency for International Development Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance Susan Reichle will visit camps where Haitians displaced by the earthquake are living, and will meet with Haitian government and United Nations officials in Port au Prince. Assistant Secretary Schwartz will also visit the Fond Parisien area on the border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where the International Organization for Migration is receiving Haitians returning to Haiti from the Dominican Republic and providing transportation assistance to them.

The $10.5 million contribution to UNHCR, UNICEF and PAHO that Assistant Secretary Schwartz announced (detailed below) is in addition to a $4 million contribution made to IOM for repatriation assistance activities in the border areas and in North West Haiti by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration shortly after the earthquake.

Organization	Amount (in millions)	Some of the Services Provided to Haitians in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic:
UNHCR	$3.8	Support of host families who are helping displaced Haitians; Protection of vulnerable women and children in settlements; medical assistance and support to those with special needs and their families
UNICEF	$3.3	Emergency education in the border areas; nutrition and anti-trafficking-in-persons programs in the border areas
PAHO	$3.4	Emergency health, food, nutrition, water and sanitation programs in the border areas
TOTAL	$10.5 million