Catholic Relief Services - Emergency update

Pakistan Flooding Emergency From Catholic Relief Services
The worst flooding in Pakistan’s history has cut a swath of destruction from the northern mountain regions to wheat fields in the south.  The Indus River breached its banks again on Saturday, August 14, in Southern Pakistan, bringing even more devastation to the area.
more >>

Bishops Request Temporary Protected Status for Haitians
From the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops
The U.S. Catholic Bishops have requested that President George W. Bush designate the country of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), for a period of eighteen months, citing pressing humanitarian reasons.  Temporary Protected Status permits nationals of a designated nation living in the United States to reside here legally and qualify for work authorization.  A designation of TPS is based upon a determination that armed conflict, political unrest, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions exist in a nation and that the return of that country’s nationals would further destabilize the nation and potentially bring harm to those returned.
more >>

Food Crisis in Haiti
Frustrated with the soaring price of food, Haitians took to the streets in protest in early April. Anger over the cost of food got to be too much for hundreds of people who took to the streets across Haiti in protest in early April, burning tires and forcing businesses to shut down. At least four people died. The protests are symptomatic of what William Canny, Catholic Relief Services' country representative in Haiti, calls a "reservoir of discontent."
more >>

Myanmar Emergency
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is supporting the emergency relief and response efforts of the Caritas Internationalis network in the most affected areas of Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis brought a deadly tidal surge across the low-lying coastal areas of the country on Saturday.
more >>

Earthquake in China
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is supporting the emergency response of our partner Caritas Hong Kong in the wake of the powerful May 12 earthquake in China that has claimed more than 40,000 lives.
more >>

CRS Food Experts Warn of Impending ‘Cascade of Hunger’
From Catholic Relief Services
The recent skyrocketing cost of food staples around the world is making national and international headlines. The crisis is prompting economists, agronomists, finance ministers and heads of state to come up with immediate and long-term solutions so that more widespread price increases are averted and increasing discontent is mitigated.
“What we are seeing is unprecedented,” says Catholic Relief Services food aid expert Lisa Kuennen-Asfaw. “If immediate needs are not met, and if resources and policies supporting increased agricultural production are not put in place soon, we are heading for a cascade of hunger the world over.”
more >>