Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey paid a brief visit to Port-au-Prince in Haiti on Sunday, where she visited Swiss aid workers and met President René Préval.
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Foreign ministry spokesman Lars Knuchel told the Swiss News Agency that in her meeting with Préval she had expressed sympathy and solidarity with the Haitian people after the devastating earthquake last month.
She also discussed with Préval ways in which Swiss aid would continue in the medium and long term.
Knuchel added that she had raised the matter of the funds deposited in Swiss banks by the former dictator, Jean-Claude Duvalier. The funds have been frozen pending the resolution of a legal case to determine their rightful owner.
Last August the Swiss penal court ruled that they should be given to the authorities in Haiti, but the Duvalier family appealed the decision.
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Federal Court to decide on fate of Haiti funds
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The family of Jean-Claude Duvalier – nicknamed Baby Doc – appealed on Tuesday against the decision taken two weeks ago by the Federal Penal Court to unfreeze deposits worth SFr7,000,000 ($6.6 million) and give them to the authorities in Haiti. The case will now be heard by the Federal Court in Lausanne. The family argues…
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Another SFr4.4 million had already been pledged, making the total so far SFr25.2 million. It is one of the most successful campaigns of the fundraising Swiss Solidarity charity, led by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. Swiss Solidarity coordinator Roland Jeanneret said he was very happy at the result, with SFr1 million on average being pledged every…
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Many of them will be gathering in Lausanne on Saturday, to exchange news and consider the best ways to organise aid now. They will also be discussing what needs to happen in the long term, how Haitians abroad can become more involved in the country’s affairs. Jean-Wilfrid Fils-Aimé, secretary general of the Swiss Haitian Club,…
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In Haiti and across the developing world, population growth and urban migration have led to a proliferation of new buildings, many as resilient to natural disaster as a house of cards. The 7.0-magnitude quake last week is estimated to have killed around 200,000 people across Haiti. An aftershock on Wednesday measuring 6.1 sent frightened survivors…
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Thomas Kern has documented the daily struggle of Haitians since 1997. These pictures show the difficulties ordinary people face as well as their relationship with voodoo religion. Thomas Kern works as a picture editor for swissinfo.ch and as a freelance photgrapher.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.