Sri Lankan troops serving the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) joined thousands of Haitians in commemorating the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake that claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Haitians on 12th January 2010.
Sri Lankan troops (SRIBAT) contributed to the national level commemoration where Mr Alain Le Roy, Head UN Peace Keeping Operations, Mr A Banbury, Assistant Secretary General, Department of Field Support and Mr Mmm Michalle Jean, UNESCO Special Envoy to Haiti from United Nations Headquarters New York took part along with the Force Commander, Luiz Guilherme Paul Cruz and Mr Edmon Mulet, Special Representative to the UN Secretary General. SRIBAT after representing the formal military parade at the MINUSTAH headquarters launched a distribution of dry rations, food, clothes, etc among Haitians still housed in refugee camps in Port au Prince. SRIBAT troops also visited Children’s Orphanages, Homes for Elders, Centers for Mentally and Physically Handicapped Persons in Jacmel, Killik, Brache, Leogane and Petitgoave and went on attending to their needs.
Among those who perished in the earthquake were 102 UN personnel, constituting the highest loss of life from a single event in UN history. Brigadier A.M.R Dharmasiri, Commanding Officer, SRIBAT and several other UN officials attended the anniversary events.
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