Abstract
This Comment examines the doctrines of international humanitarian law and international disaster response law, two different sets of rules that govern the same situation: humanitarian concerns in the wake of a large-scale cataclysm. International humanitarian law is as old as history itself and has a stout body of law, both in terms of treaties and recognized customary international law. International disaster response law has only crystallized as a concept over the last two decades and is underdeveloped and largely unacknowledged.
Foreign aid, implored by the principle of humanity, is critical to assisting the plight of populations when a domestic government is not able to take care of its citizens. Thus, foreign aid groups are allowed wide latitude to function in armed conflicts under international humanitarian law. However, this is not true for aid groups providing support in the wake of a natural disaster. Because the threatening situations are identical, the source of the necessity for aid should not matter. The need for aid descends from the same threat to humanity. Thus, both situations must be treated identically, and foreign aid groups allowed similar latitude following natural disasters.
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