Santo Domingo Sit Rep 11 - Haiti Earthquake response

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 000154 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL EAID CMGT AMGT MARR DR HA SUBJECT: Santo Domingo Sit Rep 11 - Haiti Earthquake response REF: A) SDO 132, B) SDO 134, C) SDO 148 ¶1. (U) Embassy Santo Domingo Sitrep 11, further to reftels A-C: ¶2. (SBU) Dominicans to join MINUSTAH: Embassy sources indicate that deployment of 150 Dominican troops as part of MINUSTAH has been agreed in principle by the DR, Haiti and UN, but details still need to be worked out. On Wednesday, 1/27, the MINUSTAH Commander, a UN rep from Haiti, and the Secretary of the DR Armed Forces will reportedly meet in Santo Domingo to work out the details for the deployment the Dominican contribution to MINUSTAH. Meantime, the DR Armed Forces are going ahead with preparations for deployment, so that they will be ready to move once the final green light is given. The UN, judging from its press announcement, is on board with the deployment. ¶3. (SBU) Repatriation Starts: Sources with refugee/migration experience report that the process of establishing camp facilities in Fond Parisien (12 km inside the Haitian border) and of repatriating Haitians has begun. NGOs in the Jimani area have so far helped facilitate this development, and the GODR has reportedly pledged to provide humanitarian supplies to Fond Parisien, but IOM and the GODR have yet to reach a written agreement on repatriation procedures. Some have raised concerns that the better policy would be to help Haitians return to locations closer to their original homes (in PAP or elsewhere) but Fond Parisien is emerging as the de facto (re-)entry point for returning Haitians. ¶4. (SBU) NAS Office Support: The NAS Director at Embassy SDO reports that (a) an INL expert will inspect prisons in Haiti (to depart SDO for PAP via mil-air 27 Jan),and (b) two officials from the INL Air Wing are also coming next week, to perform an assessment of the San Isidro/Barahona capacity for helicopter support over the next few months. Additionally, NAS PAP, LEGAT (SDO & PAP) and SouthCom are working together to ensure that 5,000 MREs get to the Haitian National Police (HNP) each day. Minimize Considered. Lambert