Natural Disasters in Haiti and

Pakistan Highlight Diaspora

Response :Migration Information Source

By: Maria Moreno

History 33

Professor Arguello

The Earthquake

• The January 12 earthquake in Haiti killed over 220,000 people according to the Haitian government, and the number of displaced people peaked at 2.3 million before dropping to 1.5 million in July, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported.

• As the media reported, thousands of Haitian American doctors and nurses volunteered to help while many traveled to Haiti to contribute their skills where they were direly needed.

• In terms of relief, the United States, home to about 535,000 Haitian immigrants, moved quickly to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians who were in the country illegally at the time of the earthquake.

THE MIGRATION

• As with the Haitian Diaspora, the Pakistani Diaspora, from the United States to the United Kingdom to the gulf countries, has raised money for disaster relief, sometimes at the behest of Pakistani diplomatic officials.

• Unlike Haiti, though, Pakistan has not explicitly welcomed the Diaspora into the rebuilding process.

• Pakistani Americans created the American Pakistan Foundation at the very end of 2009 and appointed its first President and CEO in June 2010