Problems of DVI Missions in Failed States

On January 12th 2010, a Richter magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti. An estimate of 200.000 people had been reported dead, about 300.000 injured, 1.000.000 homeless, over 280.000 buildings collapsed or severely damaged. Since 2006, the minimum requirement of an orderly temporary burial for disaster victims is guidelined by the WHO, PAHO, IFRC and ICRC as the procedure of choice in cases when a disaster victim identification (DVI) process cannot start immediately. It was not reported that any of the international community's authorities took responsibility for an orderly temporary burial of the deceased for the purpose of this guidelines. As long ago as 1980, the Interpol resolution adopted in the course of the 49th General Assembly session in Manila recognised the identification of an individual's human remains as a basic human right. After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, an extensive DVI mission has never been established. Keywords: Disaster, Disaster Victim Identifikation, DVI, Earthquake, Failed States, Haiti, Interpol, Mass Graves, MINUSTAH, Temporary Burial, United Nations.