Greece Bolsters Humanitarian Aid to Haiti After Devastating Earthquake

Greece has earmarked an additional 100,000 euros to bolster its humanitarian aid to Haiti in the wake of the recent devastating earthquake, the Foreign Ministry said in an announcement on Tuesday.

The money will go toward the increased needs arising from the 7.2-magnitude quake that left more than 2,200 people dead on August 14, with over 300 missing and thousands displaced.

The earthquake has now been followed by a tropical storm that is adding to the woes of the Caribbean nation.

In its announcement, the Ministry stressed the country’s particular ties with Haiti, which was the first nation in the world to recognize Greece’s independence in 1822.

“With this symbolic move, Greece today stands by the tried and tested Haitian people and does not forget that Haiti was the first country in the world to recognize Greece’s independence in 1822,” the announcement reads.

Historic ties between Greece and Haiti

After nearly 400 years of brutal occupation, Greece officially declared independence from the Ottomans in 1822, although the fighting had begun a year before.

The Greeks, largely without financial and military resources due to so many years under Ottoman rule, looked to foreign states for support in their fight for freedom.

Inspired by the courageous uprising of the Haitian people, who were also fighting a much wealthier, well-equipped force, Adamantios Korais, a Greek academic and a significant political figure at the time, asked for Haiti’s support.

In a letter to then-President of Haiti Jean Pierre Boyer, Korais expressed his admiration for the tenacity and bravery of the former slaves who successfully defeated the French.

He also asked for financial and military support from the island nation.

However, Haiti, left in economic ruin by the massive debt repayments owed to France, could not provide very much financial help to the Greek revolutionaries.

Boyer expressed his regret that he could not help the Greeks financially, yet he was still determined to support the fight and stand in solidarity with Greece.

Recognizing that Greeks under the Ottomans were in a similar position to Haitians before the revolution, Boyer wrote to Korais:

“We, like the Hellenes, were for a long time subjected to a dishonorable slavery and finally, with our own chains, broke the head of tyranny.”

Greece stands by Haiti as earthquake victims climb over 2,200

The Foreign Ministry in Athens notes that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, has expressed his desire to visit Haiti as soon as possible, when the epidemiological and political conditions allow it.

Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency said Sunday that the death toll from this month’s magnitude 7.2 earthquake has grown to 2,207, with 344 people still missing.

The previous figure had been 2,189 on Wednesday. The agency said via Twitter that 12,268 people were injured and nearly 53,000 houses were destroyed by the Aug. 14 quake.

Tropical Storm Grace also rolled across Haiti on Tuesday, pounding the region with drenching rains just days after a powerful earthquake devastated a swath of the island nation’s so-called southwestern “claw.”

The storm hit as thousands of Haitians dug through rubble looking for loved ones or hunted for shelter after the earthquake destroyed entire towns and left hospitals overwhelmed with the injured.