Haiti deserves more than just aid

Haiti's history has been been so seeped in exploitation, that its status as the country with the lowest Human Development Index in the Americas is not surprising. In 2013, Haiti had called for European nations to pay reparations for ongoing hardships brought on by years of slavery. Some may argue that giving in to that claim would encourage thousands of others. Maybe that is the case, but that does not mean that it would therefore be fair to ignore the claim. Particularly so, as Haiti's current predicament is largely linked to foreign (though not only European) abuse. Here is a timeline of some of those abuses:

• 1492: On 5 December Christopher Columbus landed at Môle Saint-Nicolas and claimed the island for Spain.
• 1503 (circa): Queen Anacaona and her husband Caonabo who tried to resist the Spanish invasion are captured and executed.
• 1507: smallpox and other epidemics began to wipe out local populations who did not have the immunities to resist these imported diseases. This disaster became a pattern in the New World and ill treatment exacerbated the situation.
• The Spanish immediately began to exploit the indigenous population. Many were forced to work in their gold mines, while the less productive or more resistant were either killed or sold into slavery.
• 1512–1513: The Laws of Burgos gave the natives some rights, but still allowed them to be exploited by feudal-like system known as the “encomiendas”. Many were coerced to convert to Christianity.
• 1517: Charles V authorised the importation of slaves from Africa following the near annihilation of the indigenous Taíno population.
• 1600s: The west of the island, which had started to become popular with French pirates and buccaneers, began to attract colonial families from neighbouring islands owing to its crop-growing potential and cheap labour.
• 1697: With the Treaty of Ryswick, France and Spain formally divided the island of Hispaniola between them, eventually leading to the creation of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The French, whose portion of the island is called Saint-Domingue, prosper thanks to their exploitation of slavery which reaches levels of sheer brutality. A mixed race population begins to emerge as the colonialists take advantage of their female slaves.
• 1794: Inspired by the French Revolution, Domingue, Toussaint Louverture, a former slave, takes control of Saint-Domingue after a successful revolt.
• 1802: Napoleon tries to regain Saint-Domingue, but fails because of disease that decimates his forces.
• 1803: Toussaint Louverture is invited to negotiate, but is abducted and sent to France where he dies under his captors hands. Jean-Jacques Dessalines takes over and manages to defeat the French.
• 1804: On the 1 January Saint-Domingue is formally declared independent and called "Ayiti". Approximately 100,000 slaves died during the rebellion, as well as over half of the 40,000 or so colonists.
• 1806: Dessalines is assassinated by internal factions.
• 1825: The forces of King Charles X of France attempt to retake the island and in order to avoid the risk of defeat, President Boyer agrees to pay a massive indemnity. Haiti borrowed heavily form German and US banks at high interest rates to repay the debt. By 1900, 80 percent of Haiti's GDP was spent on debt repayments. Though the debt was finally paid off in 1947, Haiti has never fully recovered from the financial drain of these bizarre payments.
• 1876: The US finally eases the debilitating restrictions it had imposed on Haiti and recognises the government there.
• 1912: Syrians living in Haiti destroy the Presidential Palace in an anti-government attack.
• 1914: US, British and German forces occupy Haiti with the pretext of protecting their nationals during a period of social unrest.
• 1915: The US takes over the administration of Haiti and remains in control until 1934.
• 1957–1986: During the Duvalier family dictatorship Colombian Drug traffickers take root in Haiti.
• 2004: President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is ousted following a rebellion. Aristide and his bodyguard claim that they were abducted by US forces. Wikileaks documents indicated the the US and the UN were complicit in undermining his return to government.
• 2010: On the January 12 an earthquake strikes killing about 316,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. The US takes a huge administrative fee to coordinate the charity relief funds.
• 2010: Cholera is confirmed. It was introduced by Nepalese UN workers.
• 2012: By this date the epidemic had already killed thousands of people and the UN connection had been confirmed.
• 2016: Hurricane Matthew devastates much of Haiti, leaving about 3,000 dead and exacerbating the cholera situation there. Climate change is making these extreme weather events even more likely.
• 2018: In June, the British charity Oxfam is banned form operating in the country after its staff were accused of sexual exploitation.

So, it would seem fair to say that Haiti deserves more than just aid for having been so mistreated by nature. It should also be given assistance to to get back on track after having been derailed so many times by reckless foreign interference.