Belgium: Disaster Assistance to Haiti: Approximately 130

UNCLAS BRUSSELS 000046 SIPDIS STATE FOR TASK FORCE-1 STATE FOR EUR/WE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV SOCI BE HA SUBJECT: Belgium: Disaster Assistance to Haiti: Approximately 130 Belgian Aid Workers On Ground; Government Pledges One Million Euros REF: Brussels 43 ¶1. The Belgian media reported January 15 that approximately 130 Belgians are now on the ground in Port-au-Prince, focusing on finding survivors (with four search dogs) and setting up a field hospital and water purification unit to provide medical assistance and clean water. Belgian Development Cooperation, the federal aid agency, is making one million euros available for assistance and is talking to UNICEF and the International Red Cross about how best to put that money to use in Haiti. ¶2. Foreign Minister Vanackere indicated on January 15 that 91 Belgian citizens had been accounted in Port-au-Prince since the earthquake, four of whom had been injured in the earthquake and were now receiving treatment in the Dominican Republic (three) and Canada. The GOB has a total of 232 dossiers of inquiry in its Brussels-based crisis center at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Belgian consular officer on the ground is creating a list of citizens desiring to be repatriated along with their families, and the Airbus A330 that brought the Belgian emergency response team to Haiti is scheduled to repatriate them, and possibly other European citizens (subject to agreements between countries),the weekend of January 16-17. GUTMAN