FRENCH RELIEF EFFOTS IN HAITI - SNAPSHOT: JANUARY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000065

SIPDIS

DEPT PLEASE PASS OP CENTER TASK FORCE 1

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/20/2020
TAGS: PREF EAID PHUM UN FR HA
SUBJECT: FRENCH RELIEF EFFOTS IN HAITI - SNAPSHOT: JANUARY
21, 2010

REF: A. A. STATE 4807

B. B. STATE 4854

C. C. STATE 4909

Classified By: Kathleen Allegrone, Political Minister Counselor, for re
asons 1.4 (b and d).


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Responding immediately to the earthquake
on January 12, France quickly mobilized physical and
financial resources to assist Haitian disaster victims.
President Sarkozy convened an inter-ministerial meeting of
his Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Economy, and
Defense at the Presidential Palace on January 13 to &examine
how best to send additional aid8 to Haiti and has publicly
praised the close coordination with the USG ever since.
(Note: Details of French aid can be found in para 2-4.)
France is a strong supporter of a meeting on Haiti in
Montreal scheduled for January 25 which FM Kouchner will
attend as well as a subsequent donors, conference that would
address Haitian reconstruction. FM Kouchner, who made his
career in humanitarian relief, has also put France in the
forefront of assisting Haitian orphans. Our interlocutors
tell us that groundwork over the past year to link State
Operations Center with France,s new Crisis Center has paid
off in terms of information sharing and coordination. Post
will continue to update the Department Task Force on Haiti
via email reports of the French contribution to the relief
effort. END SUMMARY.

FRENCH CONTRIBUTION TO THE RELIEF EFFORT
--------------


2. (SBU) The French aid package to Haiti currently stands at
20 million euros ($30 million),with 10 million euros ($15
million) channeled through the UN and 2 million euros ($3
million) to emergency food aid. France will also cancel 54
million euros ($76 million) in remaining French-owned Haitian
debt as agreed in the Paris Club. As of January 21, France
increased the total number of emergency personnel, comprised
of civilian, military, and gendarmes detachments to over 920
people. Currently, there are 580 Ministry of Interior
personnel, 321 military, 9 Department of Health personnel,
and 10 MFA agents. Over 130 metric tons of equipment has
been delivered to Haiti. Assisted by a civil security
helicopter and plane, search and rescue teams have already
completed 13 missions and are currently involved in four new
intervention sites. Their work has helped rescue 14
survivors buried beneath the rubble. French teams have also
accounted for 609 French nationals unharmed and confirmed the
deaths of 22 French nationals. An additional 11 French
citizens remain missing from the French community of over
1,400 in Haiti. The Ministry of Defense committed one C-130
Hercules and one helicopter to transporting humanitarian
cargo and transport evacuees from Haiti to emergency
facilities in Martinique and Guadeloupe. As of January 21,
the French have evacuated 1,115 people to the West Indies and
repatriated 683 French citizens back to France.


3. (SBU) A field hospital and an advanced medical post
comprised of 140 staff members and over 39 metric tons of
equipment as well as 10 mobile medical teams with over 77
French physicians and 75 nurses are currently working in
Port-au-Prince. To date, French medical teams have conducted
over 4,000 medical consultations. The French have installed
a potable water station with a capacity of producing enough
drinking water for 20,000 people daily. Five military
aircraft conduct daily rotations between Haiti and the French
Antilles, having already delivered over 100 metric tons of
food rations, water, and first aid to date. Also working
with French NGOs, the government assistance funded an
additional 43 humanitarian aid workers and 15 metric tons of
equipment, which arrived on January 20. A new detachment of
93 civil security personnel, including 30 military, 45
medical personnel, and 18 gendarmes, arrived in Haiti on
January 20. The MFA Crisis Center deployed a team of six
consular experts as well as seven agents to manage the
international adoption process. In Paris, the Crisis Center
leads the French response in Haiti with a staff of 50 agents
fully mobilized 24 hours a day. Two special crisis hotlines
have been created and dedicated to fielding public inquiries
( 33.01.4550.3460 and 33.08.1000.6330). Supported by over
150 volunteer staff, the MFA has received over 14,500 calls
as of January 21. Note for the State Operations: contacts at
the French Crisis Center report productive exchanges with the
State Department Operations Center Task Force. Over the
past year, the U.S. embassy provided one exchange diplomat to
the French crisis center and promoted exchanges with State
Ops personnel which appear to have been helpful in
coordinating responses to this current crisis.


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4. (SBU) Five planes chartered by the MFA and EU are
expected in Port-au-Prince by January 22 with 55 tons of
civil security materiel and humanitarian freight prepared by
NGOs. Two naval ships are expected to reach Haiti in the
coming days to strengthen French capabilities by providing
two heavy and two light helicopters, heavy construction
machinery, additional vehicles, and 800 metric tons of
equipment. An additional detachment of 127 civil security
personnel and 21 Department of Health personnel will arrive
on January 22, bringing the total French presence to 1,068.

INTERNATIONAL MEETING AND DONORS' CONFERENCE
--------------


5. (SBU) In a January 20 interview with RFI, Secretary of
State for Cooperation Alain Joyandet, who is leading the
French response in Haiti, responded that &everyone is
naturally associated8 with the effort when asked whether
President Obama failed to mention the European Union or
France on purpose when discussing partners for the
reconstruction of Haiti. He stressed the goal of the
international community as a whole to rebuild Haiti. FM
Kouchner stated on January 20 that the international
community &must give Haitians assurance that we will not
abandon them after the emergency phase of humanitarian
assistance8 and repeated the Sarkozy call for a March donor
conference, first publicized by the Elysee on January 14.


6. (C) COMMENT: Sarkozy's response to many critical issues
is to recommend holding a high-level conference to meet the
challenge or solve the problem. Although public reference to
a Summit on Haiti assistance has dimished recently it is
likely to come up at the Montreal meeting. END COMMENT.

EVACUATING HAITIAN ORPHANS/SUSPENDING DEPORTATIONS
-------------- --------------


7. (U) FM Bernard Kouchner announced that 130 of 528 Haitian
children in the process of being adopted by French families
would &come to France very soon since the (final
immigration) formalities will be greatly expedited.8
Speaking to Parliament on January 19, Kouchner confirmed that
France will repatriate all children who have already been
authorized adoptions to French couples, per the instructions
of Haitian Prime Minister Bellerive, and will assess where
the remaining 398 Haitian children are in the adoption
process before repatriation. Kouchner defended the GOF
hesitation to immediately evacuate all adopted children from
the earthquake wreckage of Haiti, as other European countries
have done, out of caution that the children may still have
living family members. &Even with the good pretext of
saving children(we must not be accused of kidnapping,8
Kouchner stated, while promising to prioritize aid to
children left homeless. Seven MFA agents are currently
managing the nurseries and the government list of adopted
children in Haiti. Of the 1,300 Haitians adopted worldwide
in 2006, France accounted for 591, making it the most active
country in adopting Haitian children in the world. The French
Adoption Agency reported that 731 Haitian children were
adopted by French couples in 2008. On January 14,
Immigration Minister Eric Besson announced that the GOF will
temporarily suspend all proceedings aimed at deporting
Haitian illegal immigrants in France. On January 18, Besson
also stressed the importance of &reuniting Haitian
families8 through relaxed visa restrictions for Haitians on
humanitarian grounds.


8. (C) COMMENT: With the Dutch evacuation of 109 adopted
children from Haiti on January 18, Kouchner,s cautious
response to Parliament likely stems from the sensitive case
for France in 2007, when six members of a French aid charity,
Zoe,s Arc, were convicted of trying to traffic to France 103
Chadian children whom they said were refugees from the war in
Darfur. With the Haitian community in France estimated at
45,000, the GOF appears to be making a conscious effort to
prioritize the humanitarian response both in Haiti as well as
on the home front, where the French public is highly
sensitive to the issue of adopting Haitian orphans and
providing disaster assistance. END COMMENT.


RIVKIN