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According to US officials. See CNN
US Marines landing in Haiti Tonight
- Thread starter Scoobie Newbie
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Foreign Affairs minsiter just announced that Canada will be contributing troops to a UN type mission. No further details on who or how many.
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Looks like the RCR may be busy soon.
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Didn‘t they get back fro oversea‘s this past summer?
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http://www.canada.com/national/story.html?id=fbfb2ede-b2da-4b9d-8d80-b09572d6a359
Canada to send more troops to Haiti
Canadian Press
Sunday, February 29, 2004
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham confirmed that Canada will send more troops to Haiti.
CREDIT: CP Archive
ADVERTISEMENT
OTTAWA
Prime Minister Paul Martin will tell the UN that Canada is ready to join an international stabilization force in Haiti, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said Sunday.
"We‘ll be there when the conditions are right," Graham told CTV‘s Question Period. "It‘s important to get some forces in there.
"I understand from speaking to (U.S. Secretary of State) Colin Powell this morning that the Americans will be landing troops today - at the invitation, of course, of the president."
Martin was to make the offer Monday while presenting a UN commission report on the private sector and development. Government officials said military planners were hammering out specific options for cabinet to consider this week.
In the meantime, the UN Security Council will consider a Chapter 7 resolution that would enable deployment of an international force.
In Haiti, Yves Petillon, head of the Canadian International Development Agency‘s aid program in the country and one of only five Canadians left working out of the ambassador‘s residence, said Sunday that only about 60 Canadians had shown up seeking evacuation.
"Right now, the situation is very tense," said Petillion. "Many groups are looting in downtown Port-au-Prince.
"Apparently the evacuation plan is going smoothly. The evacuation is going on right now."
About 1,000 Canadians are registered with the embassy in Haiti, but Petillon said there are likely many more living in the country. They were told of staging points for military-escorted convoys to the airport, but Petillon said most were heading there on their own.
Most Canadian aid workers have left, said Petillon, the only Canadian CIDA worker still in the country. He said relatively few Canadians have taken advantage of the opportunity to leave because many are missionaries or Haitian-Canadians.
"The majority of missionaries in this type of situation decide to stay," he said. "The same, also, for people who are Canadian and at the same time Haitian."
A company of soldiers - about 120 - from 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment in Gagetown, N.B., were still standing by in Trenton, Ont., along with members of the Joint Operations Group out of Kingston, Ont.
Three Hercules transport aircraft dispatched on Saturday were operating out of the neighbouring Dominican Republic, each able to take about 60 people at a time. Graham said there were about 50 Canadian troops in the region as of Sunday.
An unidentified embassy official at the airport confirmed at noon on Sunday that few Canadians had shown up. She said those who came would be taken to Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic.
Many routes to the airport had roadblocks and she said the safety of the trip "depends on where you come from."
Petillon agreed that many routes are not safe, but "with the Canadian soldiers, it‘s not a problem to go from the new embassy to the airport."
Canadian troops were at the airport ensuring the safety of Hercules flights in and out.
Darren Gibb, a spokesman for Defence Minister David Pratt, said the Canadian military is offering "flights of opportunity, meaning should Canadians want to leave, we will help them do that."
"We‘re not saying right now when they‘re going in or where they‘re going, for security reasons," he added.
There are two teams on the ground in Haiti - a group of planners co-ordinating the evacuation, and a small unit of JTF-2 special forces troops protecting the ambassador and embassy staff. The Hercs are also supplying those two detachments.
Graham said Canadian Forces are clearly stretched, with multiple deployments, including Bosnia and Afghanistan. But he said Martin, Pratt and the chief of defence staff, Gen. Ray Henalt, have been coinsidering military options since last Wednesday.
"I‘m confident they‘ll be able to provide the number of troops necessary to make a real contribution. They‘ve already got some 50 troops down there at the moment, helping in the humanitarian process of removing people."
Graham said Aristide made no request to Canada for sanctuary, nor was any offered. But Canada will be looking to do as much as it can for Haiti, he said.
"We do have a special relationship with Haiti," said Graham. "Apart from being a francophone country and having our large diaspora in Montreal, we have a good track record in Haiti.
"I think the prime minister would like to see how we can translate that into making sure that the transition is smooth and that we can try to get Haiti on the way to democracy."
Graham said there has not been a flood of Haitian refugees looking to get into Canada, nor does he expect one. At the same time, Canada is not deporting Haitian refugee claimants.
"We want to stabilize Haiti as quickly as possible to prevent people from having to leave the island."
Petillon said CIDA programs in Haiti are continuing with local workers. The agency has given more than $1 million to the World Food Program, $300,000 to the International Red Cross and another $300,000 to the Pan-American Health Organization.
Petillon said the agency is considering proposals from several other locally based humaniarian organizations and expects to approve some over the coming days.
© 2004
Canada to send more troops to Haiti
Canadian Press
Sunday, February 29, 2004
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham confirmed that Canada will send more troops to Haiti.
CREDIT: CP Archive
ADVERTISEMENT
OTTAWA
Prime Minister Paul Martin will tell the UN that Canada is ready to join an international stabilization force in Haiti, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said Sunday.
"We‘ll be there when the conditions are right," Graham told CTV‘s Question Period. "It‘s important to get some forces in there.
"I understand from speaking to (U.S. Secretary of State) Colin Powell this morning that the Americans will be landing troops today - at the invitation, of course, of the president."
Martin was to make the offer Monday while presenting a UN commission report on the private sector and development. Government officials said military planners were hammering out specific options for cabinet to consider this week.
In the meantime, the UN Security Council will consider a Chapter 7 resolution that would enable deployment of an international force.
In Haiti, Yves Petillon, head of the Canadian International Development Agency‘s aid program in the country and one of only five Canadians left working out of the ambassador‘s residence, said Sunday that only about 60 Canadians had shown up seeking evacuation.
"Right now, the situation is very tense," said Petillion. "Many groups are looting in downtown Port-au-Prince.
"Apparently the evacuation plan is going smoothly. The evacuation is going on right now."
About 1,000 Canadians are registered with the embassy in Haiti, but Petillon said there are likely many more living in the country. They were told of staging points for military-escorted convoys to the airport, but Petillon said most were heading there on their own.
Most Canadian aid workers have left, said Petillon, the only Canadian CIDA worker still in the country. He said relatively few Canadians have taken advantage of the opportunity to leave because many are missionaries or Haitian-Canadians.
"The majority of missionaries in this type of situation decide to stay," he said. "The same, also, for people who are Canadian and at the same time Haitian."
A company of soldiers - about 120 - from 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment in Gagetown, N.B., were still standing by in Trenton, Ont., along with members of the Joint Operations Group out of Kingston, Ont.
Three Hercules transport aircraft dispatched on Saturday were operating out of the neighbouring Dominican Republic, each able to take about 60 people at a time. Graham said there were about 50 Canadian troops in the region as of Sunday.
An unidentified embassy official at the airport confirmed at noon on Sunday that few Canadians had shown up. She said those who came would be taken to Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic.
Many routes to the airport had roadblocks and she said the safety of the trip "depends on where you come from."
Petillon agreed that many routes are not safe, but "with the Canadian soldiers, it‘s not a problem to go from the new embassy to the airport."
Canadian troops were at the airport ensuring the safety of Hercules flights in and out.
Darren Gibb, a spokesman for Defence Minister David Pratt, said the Canadian military is offering "flights of opportunity, meaning should Canadians want to leave, we will help them do that."
"We‘re not saying right now when they‘re going in or where they‘re going, for security reasons," he added.
There are two teams on the ground in Haiti - a group of planners co-ordinating the evacuation, and a small unit of JTF-2 special forces troops protecting the ambassador and embassy staff. The Hercs are also supplying those two detachments.
Graham said Canadian Forces are clearly stretched, with multiple deployments, including Bosnia and Afghanistan. But he said Martin, Pratt and the chief of defence staff, Gen. Ray Henalt, have been coinsidering military options since last Wednesday.
"I‘m confident they‘ll be able to provide the number of troops necessary to make a real contribution. They‘ve already got some 50 troops down there at the moment, helping in the humanitarian process of removing people."
Graham said Aristide made no request to Canada for sanctuary, nor was any offered. But Canada will be looking to do as much as it can for Haiti, he said.
"We do have a special relationship with Haiti," said Graham. "Apart from being a francophone country and having our large diaspora in Montreal, we have a good track record in Haiti.
"I think the prime minister would like to see how we can translate that into making sure that the transition is smooth and that we can try to get Haiti on the way to democracy."
Graham said there has not been a flood of Haitian refugees looking to get into Canada, nor does he expect one. At the same time, Canada is not deporting Haitian refugee claimants.
"We want to stabilize Haiti as quickly as possible to prevent people from having to leave the island."
Petillon said CIDA programs in Haiti are continuing with local workers. The agency has given more than $1 million to the World Food Program, $300,000 to the International Red Cross and another $300,000 to the Pan-American Health Organization.
Petillon said the agency is considering proposals from several other locally based humaniarian organizations and expects to approve some over the coming days.
© 2004
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So much for no more commitments for at least a year.
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