LONDON (AlertNet) - United Nations peacekeeping forces are guarding the largest food depot in Haiti against potential looting by desperate survivors of an earthquake that has killed thousands, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
With thousands of people homeless and hungry, and hospitals, police stations and jails in ruins, lawlessness and looting is one of the biggest concerns for aid groups deploying to Haiti.
The country has a long history of insecurity and violence. One of the major drug transit points from South America to the United States, Haiti is awash with guns and gangs. Kidnappings and murder are a part of life.
"Security is an issue in Haiti even at the best of times," said Gregory Barrow, WFP spokesman in Rome.
"But a devastating earthquake, when people have little access to water, shelter and food, makes an insecure situation even more insecure."
WFP was already feeding nearly 2 million people out of a population of 9 million before Tuesday's magnitude 7 earthquake ripped through the Carribean island nation.
In many areas 50 percent of the buildings have been damaged, there is no fresh water supply or electricity, and communications are broken, the United Nations said in a report.
Aid delivery has been hampered by damage to the airport in the capital Port-au-Prince, the port and roads leading to neighbouring Dominican Republic.
POTENTIAL LOOTING
Despair has turned to anger with many Haitians venting their frustration at the lack of immediate aid to the poorest country
in the western hemisphere by building road blocks of dead bodies.
Survivors have also looted supermarkets for food but the WFP said the Brazilian military, under the U.N., was guarding its main food depot in Port-au-Prince housing 6,000 tonnes of food.
"Authorities have warned of looting and other crimes, in parallel to media reports that convicted criminals have escaped from a prison which also collapsed," the U.N. said.
"So far, the security situation remains calm."
The London-based security and risk analysis group Jane's studies countries' levels of instability. Haiti's ranking before the earthquake was "high" -- a rating shared with Afghanistan and Sudan.
Robert Munks, Americas analyst at Jane's, said aid groups had to prioritise finding safe routes to and from secure aid points.
"In the short term the security consequences are pretty catastrophic," he said.
The United States has pledged to send an aircraft carrier to act as an offshore airport to speed the delivery of aid supplies and nearly 6,000 soldiers and marines to improve security.
And aid groups were likely to employ their own security guards and consultants.
"From media groups we're seen a great level of interest already," said Fraser Bomford, a spokesman for AKE, a Britain-based security advisory firm.
"We're expecting to have a great deal of interest from the aid agencies soon too."
In 2008 food riots broke out in Port-au-Prince because of a spike in prices and analysts said that even tenuous security was held mainly because of the 9,000 strong U.N. peacekeeping force.
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