பெரு பூகம்பம்: கருப்பின சந்ததியினருக்கு உதவுவதில் பாரபட்சம் குற்றச்சாட்டு

பெரு பூகம்பம்: கருப்பின சந்ததியினருக்கு உதவுவதில் பாரபட்சம் என்ற குற்றச்சாட்டு எழுந்துள்ளது

பெரும்பாலான சேவை நிறுவனங்கள் கிறிஸ்துவ சேவை நிறுவனங்கள், அல்லது அரசாங்க சேவை நிறுவனங்கள். இவைகள் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட வெள்ளையினத்தவரையே குறிவைத்து உதவுகிறார்கள். கருப்பினத்தவரை கண்டுகொள்வதில்லை என்ற குற்றச்சாட்டு எழுந்துள்ளது.

Afro-Peruvians angry at post-quake press
24 Aug 2007 13:50:00 GMT
Blogged by: Ruth Gidley

Earthquake survivors receive food rations at a shelter in Pisco.
REUTERS/Mariana Bazo. Afro-Peruvians - descended from African slaves brought to Peru by Spanish colonisers from the 16th century onwards - tend to get left out of most people's picture of the Andes.

But the coastal region most devastated by the August 15 earthquake has a large Afro-Peruvian population, which local rights organisations say is last in line for aid. They also claim that the group is unfairly vilified in the press.

"The government has not thought about these communities, although they are most in need. There has never been infrastructural investment in these areas," Jorge Ramirez of the Black Association for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights (ASONODH) says in a statement issued through British advocacy organisation Minority Rights Group.

The history of African slaves forced to work on coastal plantations doesn't fit well with the national identity of a fusion between the Spanish and Inca empires, even though some local campaigners like ASONODH say that up to 10 percent of Peruvians, and maybe 40 percent of residents in the quake-hit zone, could be of African descent.

It's virtually impossible to track down official figures either to back them up or discount the claim.

"We are not even considered within national indices on poverty. As a result, we remain the invisible poorest of the poor," Ramirez goes on.

There were reports earlier in the week about Peruvians in the devastated area south of Lima halting and raiding aid deliveries. Britain's Observer newspaper quoted a 60-year-old woman, Reyna Macedo, as saying: "Supply trucks go by and the anguish of watching them pass without giving us anything forces us to stop them and take what we need."

An aid worker with SOS Children's Villages, Sainot Gallegos, said in a statement: "The situation makes it impossible for the trucks to reach the remote areas where people have not yet received any support."

According to the Observer, about 200 soldiers were sent to patrol the worst-affected towns of Pisco, Ica and Chincha to maintain order.

ASONODH's Ramirez was angry that Afro-Peruvians seemed to be getting the blame for the violence in some local press. "After the earthquake the Peruvian media portrayed blacks as looters and thieves, but they have lost everything and their suffering is being ignored," he said.

Lima's daily paper el Comercio quoted Peru's president as saying 95 percent of people in need had received aid, and that figure could have gone up by now. President Alan Garcia promised that Pisco would be clear of rubble in 10 days.

The aid worker for SOS villagers, Gallegos, said: "The city looks like a bomb was dropped on it." Pisco is still without water or electricity, while supplies have been restored in Ica, Canete and Chincha.

Authorities were dumping rubble on the edge of town on the grounds that it's a precaution against epidemics - a common myth after large-scale disasters like this. In any case, dozens have people were scavenging on the site for useful objects.

The health minister has warned people to watch out for poisonous spiders in the rubble.

The government has said it will give 800 soles (250 dollars) to help relatives of the quake-injured who had been evacuated to hospitals in Lima, so that they could afford to stay in the capital with their loved ones.

But the disruption is far-reaching. Aid agency CARE International pointed out that the quake came in the middle of the school year, which has its main break at the end of the calendar year. Most schools in Pisco have been destroyed or are now unsafe, and CARE said officials need to come up with plans for temporary safe places so that children won't lose the whole school year.

The agency said it was especially concerned about people living with HIV and AIDS in the area, and would work with local hospitals to make sure people with AIDS and tuberculosis didn't stop getting the medications they needed.

Right now, Peru's economy is booming, mostly thanks to mineral exports. Its GDP growth last year was 8.03 percent last year, and economists said the quake wasn't likely to cut more than 0.2 percent for 2007. Apoyo consultants said it estimated 7.7 percent growth for the year.

The coastal region hit by the quake is known for vineyards, asparagus and artichokes, as well as factories churning out fishmeal for feeding cattle. The area near Ica makes up about 5 percent of Peru's economy, with rapidly growing industries in agriculture, fishing and mining.

While the country as a whole may not suffer too much, individuals who have lost their homes or fishing boats may well find it harder to bounce back.

The U.N. World Food Programme said that the chaos in various areas was subsiding, but it still needed donors to come up with funding. The U.N. Central Emergency Response Fund will provide $2 million, just under one-third of what WFP officials said they would need.

""This crisis may quickly disappear from the front pages of the newspapers, but the tens of thousands of people affected by this catastrophe will live with the effects for many months to come," WFP Country Director Guy Gauvreau said in a statement.
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