Amnesty International Ireland

The catastrophic earthquake that occurred last Tuesday the 12th of January in Haiti has seen the destruction of homes, hospitals and schools. The loss of life will, probably, never be fully known. For those that have survived, the struggle to ensure that they have access to medical care, shelter, food and water has begun in earnest. Aid workers have been flying to Haiti, and many more of us have been donating money to the relief effort.

Haiti has long been one of the world’s poorest countries. Images of the disaster are being beamed into out homes; and have dominated the front of every newspaper.

The immediate priority is to prevent further loss of life.

But what will happen in the long term? When the aid workers have gone home and Haiti no longer occupies the front page of our newspapers.

Watch Amnesty International Special Advisor, Javier Zuniga, speak about how in the aftermath of the disaster in Haiti that there is a grave human rights crisis brewing. The link to our you tube video is available on the right hand side of this blog.

At the moment the concern is to save lives but what about the mid – term and long - term effects of the earthquake on human rights?