BBC Learning English
Words in the News
Haiti cholera claims
26 July 2013
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Words in the News
© British Broadcasting Corporation 2013
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bbclearningenglish.com
A group of top international scientists studying a widespread outbreak of cholera in the
Caribbean state of Haiti has found that the disease probably came from United Nations
peacekeepers. This discovery could have a big effect on a multi-billion dollar
compensation claim from people affected by the epidemic, which has so far claimed over
8,000 lives. The BBC’s International Development Correspondent Mark Doyle reports:
The cholera epidemic in Haiti has put the United Nations in an unprecedented legal
and moral crisis. Ever since the outbreak began, in late 2010, all the circumstantial
evidence has pointed to the source of the disease being a military camp for UN
peacekeepers from Nepal, where cholera is common. Sewage from the UN camp leaked
into a nearby river and was dumped in an open pit. The cholera then spread down the
river and into Haiti's towns and cities.
The United Nations, under massive pressure from the victims, convened a panel of top
scientists in 2011. But they concluded in an official UN report that no group or individual
was to blame. Now, the very same group of scientists has looked at new
microbiological evidence. And it has concluded that the Nepalese camp was the most
likely source of the outbreak.
The families of people who died in the epidemic are planning to sue the UN for
compensation totalling many billions of dollars. The UN says it has legal immunity from
any prosecution. But the victims say they're bringing their case anyway, in a US court.
This new evidence will almost certainly bolster their claim.
