The Brussels-based EU Situation Centre (EU SITCEN) monitors and assesses international events 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With the Lisbon Treaty having just come into force and no European External Action Service in place, the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake was a big challenge. Among the various EU players involved, how was SITCEN able to help?
The EU SITCEN Duty Officer received the first news alert about the Haiti earthquake at 23.01 CET (Central European Time) on 12 January 2010. Following procedures, he called the SITCEN Crisis Response Manager (an experienced SITCEN official who was on stand-by), who made the assessment that the catastrophic earthquake could also be politically significant for the EU. The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR), Catherine Ashton, was alerted about what had happened shortly after midnight. In order to speed up the response time, the EU SITCEN management decided to keep the HR and other decision-makers regularly updated about the latest developments. The Duty Officer also contacted the Commissions’ Monitoring Information Centre (MIC) and the DG RELEX Crisis Room to ensure that they were also aware of the event. As is normal with any significant crisis, EU SITCEN stepped up its collection, processing and reporting efforts with regard to the situation in Haiti, mainly using open source intelligence. The EU SITCEN also activated its web-based information-sharing tools, both for general crisis information and for consular information. On these web sites, information such as situation reports and other documents from a variety of sources were published, ensuring an up-to-date flow of information.
EU SITCEN STAFF DEPLOYED TO HAITI
It soon became clear that the information flows covering the situation on the ground were not adequate, not least because of the damage done to the local infrastructure and the losses suffered by the EU (the EU Head of Delegation was rapidly evacuated by medical services, the Charge d’Affaires was killed, several staff were injured and the EU Delegation building itself was seriously damaged). With the agreement of the High Representative, two EU SITCEN personnel were despatched to Haiti to gather information, (with a focus on nonhumanitarian issues) and to help the EU Presidency deal with consular issues.
When the EU SITCEN team arrived on 18 January, the situation on the ground was chaotic. Hundreds of thousands of people were dead or injured, and residences and public buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged. Communication systems, air, land, and sea transport facilities, hospitals, and electrical networks had been damaged by the earthquake.
General confusion as to who was in charge, air traffic congestion and problems with the prioritisation of flights further complicated relief work in the early stages. An improvised EU SITCEN corner was speedily set up in an office located in the logistics base of the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) outside Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince. The MINUSTAH HQ had been totally destroyed by the earthquake.
The EU SITCEN team’s primary task was to support the Spanish EU Presidency, which was coordinating the evacuation of all EU citizens, providing them with information from Brussels, including via the SITCEN’s web-based information-sharing tools. The team also took part in all the meetings which the EU Presidency and the EU Delegation were invited to. Tasks were adapted to the new UN coordination structures and the team took part in the various coordination meetings with all the UN actors on the ground, both on a strategic and operational level. Additionally, the team established contact with all other EU entities deployed in theatre (the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO) and MIC), with a view to ensuring that all of them had a common information picture.
When the EU SITCEN team arrived in Haiti, the communication network was almost completely out of action. There was no land line, mobile phones did not work (only SMS messages did) and there was limited internet access. Satellite phone was the only means of voice communication available for the first ten days. As the local internet network was fragile, the EU SITCEN team deployed its own satellite antenna and benefited from Spanish embassy support, allowing the team to report in real time to EU SITCEN in Brussels.
The team was assisted by its Travelling Communicator, who set up a communication centre to ensure that minimum security standards were in place for personnel, equipment and documentation. He also permanently managed the information flow to and from Brussels.
BRUSSELS COORDINATION: EUCO HAITI CREATED
Back in Brussels, there was a lot of discussion about how far military assets could contribute to the relief effort, with many Member States considering dispatching military forces in addition to their rapid and immediate dispatch of civil protection assets. At about this moment, the United Nations made a detailed request for police units to join MINUSTAH and to assist it with its security role and for military units (mainly in the field of logistics and mobility) to assist the relief effort.
In order to assist with the nonhumanitarian aspects of the relief effort (civil protection and humanitarian assistance being coordinated by MIC and ECHO) the Foreign Affairs Council agreed on 25 January to the High Representative’s proposal to set up a light crisis coordination cell in Brussels, called EUCO Haiti. The purpose of EUCO Haiti was to “facilitate the coordination of EU response in the military and security domains, complementing existing arrangements for information exchange.”
Directly under the authority of the High Representative, SITCEN, which had already been made responsible for summarising information, was sitting alongside the other CSDP services and offered a 24/7 capability, provided a readily available and appropriate home for EUCO Haiti. The cell was manned by military and police experts from the EU Military Staff (EUMS) and the Civil Conduct and Planning Capability (CPCC) and by SITCEN staff. Later on, the cell was strengthened by staff from the European Gendarmerie Force.
EUCO Haiti collected information from the UN on its precise needs and from the Member States on their offers before trying to match them. It was also looking out for opportunities for synergies between Member States’ offers, including in the field of transport. The cell also focused on situation awareness, information-sharing and the information flow between actors in the field and the headquarters in Brussels and elsewhere in Europe. EUCO Haiti was in permanent contact with the deployed EU SITCEN staff in Haiti, working closely with each other, and with other bodies, in particular the MIC.
HUMANITARIAN DISASTER OFTEN HAS POLITICAL, SECURTITY, POLICE AND CONSULAR ELEMENTS
The way in which the Haiti crisis developed was a reminder that a humanitarian disaster often has political, security, police and consular elements. It was also the first time that crisis response and crisis management measures had taken place under the Lisbon Treaty and under the leadership of the new HR. Although new procedures in line with the Lisbon Treaty were not yet in place, the spirit of the Lisbon Treaty was in evidence.
Facts about the EU Situation Centre (EU SITCEN)
The EU SITCEN monitors and assesses international events 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Focus lies on sensitive geographical areas, terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The information and evaluations provided by EU SITCEN are of a civilian and military nature, covering all aspects of EU crisis management.
The EU SITCEN’s five main functions are to:
• monitor situations and events,
• issue early warning,
• provide crisis response facilities (Crisis Task Forces),
• produce situation and risk assessments,
• act as operational contact for the High Representative.
The EU SITCEN is also the EU focal point for Situation Centres/Crisis Cells in Members States and in international organisations (UN, OSCE, NATO etc.), as well as in relevant third countries. The EU SITCEN acquired its analysis and assessment functions in 2002. It has three units: the Operations Unit, the Analysis Unit and the Consular Affairs Unit. The EU SITCEN is currently part of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, under the authority of Catherine Ashton, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The EU SITCEN will be transferred to the European External Action Service (EEAS) when it is established.
Source: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUpload/online_100818_CSDP_Newsletter_hw.pdf
