(SAN FRANCISO, May 25, 2010)—Jayne E. Fleming, Human Rights Team leader at Reed Smith LLP, has just returned from leading a delegation of pro bono attorneys and medical professionals to Haiti in an ongoing effort to identify candidates for emergency Humanitarian Parole to the US among the neediest of earthquake survivors.
In order to provide resources and information to the growing community of lawyers and medical personnel who want to help in Haiti, today, Reed Smith launched a resource site for Humanitarian Parole delegations at: www.haitilegalmedical.com.
The firm continues to receive requests from attorneys from a range of law firms to join future delegations, as well as for advice and training on how to organize a delegation. To help meet this demand, the new website includes an FAQ; information on, and forms for processing, Humanitarian Parole; news on past trips and issues in Haiti; links to other resources; and a list of ways qualified professionals and interested individuals can help.
Last week, the second delegation to travel to Haiti under Jayne’s leadership interviewed more than 100 Haitian families, and identified 40 new candidates for humanitarian parole. They also sent sub-teams into rural camps and tent cities, developed expert reports on gender-based violence and medical care, took 28 rape survivors to medical clinics, brought six infants in for pediatric care, found shelter for several high-risk families, and lined up emergency care for elders in critical condition.
“It was a very productive week,” says Fleming. “However, the situation in Haiti is extremely critical now and continues to deteriorate. The need is overwhelming.”
The earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010 took the lives of more than 200,000 people and left Haiti in ruins. Now, five months later, the humanitarian crisis in Haiti continues to escalate, with an estimated nearly two million people still living on the streets, and only half of those with the most rudimentary form of shelter. Food, water and medical attention are scarce to non-existent.
The May 2010 Humanitarian Parole delegation to Haiti included several pro bono human rights and immigration attorneys from Am Law firms, including Jennifer K. Brown of Morrison & Foerster, Jerri Shick of O’Melveny and Meyers, Jeffrey L. Salinger of Shearman & Sterling, Joanna Wasick of Hogan Lovells, Joyce H. Chen of WilmerHale, and team leader Fleming of Reed Smith.
Other lawyers include Holly S. Cooper, who heads up the immigration clinic at U.C. Davis School of Law; Robert Rubin, Legal Director for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area; and Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, Mark Winslow.
Doctors joining the May delegation included pediatrician Roslyn Murov and psychologist Christina Nichols with the Abbott House in New York City.
Doctors on previous delegations have included clinical psychologists from Stanford University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, who have worked extensively with survivors of torture, persecution, trauma and displacement.
“After our inaugural trip in March, we were heartened to see so much interest sparked in the project among our colleagues at big law firms and non-profits,” says Christopher K. Walters, senior pro bono counsel at Reed Smith.
“We owe a great debt of gratitude for this interest to Esther Lardent, head of the Pro Bono Institute, who invited Jayne to speak at the annual PBI Seminar in Washington, DC immediately upon her return from Haiti in March,” says Walters. “This gave firms from around the US the opportunity to hear about this work and the dire situation in Haiti, and an immediate interest was sparked in sending additional Humanitarian Parole delegations in Haiti, or, as with our last visit, join with us in creating one.”
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