A Chilean Air Force (FACH) airplane took off from Santiago Wednesday with 175 Haitians onboard on their way back home in what some regarded as a “humanitarian flight” and others dubbed a “forced deportation.”
A magnitude 5.2 aftershock struck Haiti on Sunday, even as survivors of the previous day’s temblor were sifting through the rubble of their cinder block homes. The death toll stood at 12, with fears it could rise. The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the aftershock was located 15.8 kilometers north-northwest of Port-de-Paix, the city hard hit by Saturday night’s 5.9 magnitude earthquake. Sunday’s aftershock had a depth of 10 kilometers.
Oxfam GB has been banned from operating in Haiti after its staff were accused of sexual misconduct following the 2010 earthquake. Haiti's government said the decision was taken because of Oxfam's “violation of its laws and serious breach of the principle of human dignity”.
The chairman of the charity Oxfam International, Juan Alberto Fuentes, has been arrested in Guatemala. Fuentes was detained as part of an investigation into a corruption scandal dating back to his time as Guatemala's finance minister, but no charges have been brought so far.
The deputy head of Oxfam has resigned over what she said was the British charity's failure to adequately respond to past allegations of sexual misconduct by some of its staff in Haiti and Chad.
The Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (EOM/OAS) in Haiti welcomed the announcement of the final results of the presidential election held on November 20, 2016.
With Haiti facing the dual challenges of addressing the impact of Hurricane Matthew and restarting preparations for the holding of the much-anticipated elections, the United Nations envoy for the Caribbean country on Tuesday expressed support for the recommended extension of the UN mission there by six months until mid-April 2017.
Matthew, meanwhile, lost its hurricane status, subsiding to a “post-tropical cyclone” after cutting a swath from Florida to South Carolina in United States. Matthew crashed ashore on Haiti’s southern coast on Tuesday as a monster Category 4 storm, packing 230 km winds.
This Monday evening the Organization of American States 46th General Assembly will officially open in Santo Domingo and this year's convening agenda refers to Institutional Strengthening for Sustainable Development in the Americas. The two day gathering is also expected to focus on the Venezuela, Haiti and the Inter-American Human Rights Commission situations, and as is the norm, the Falklands-Malvinas issue will be addressed or included in the final declaration.
The Special Mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) to Haiti is scheduled to arrive in Port-au-Prince on Sunday, headed by the Chair of the OAS Permanent Council Representative of Antigua and Barbuda, Ronald Sanders.