Wilma Leaves One Million Refugees in the States of Quintana Roo and Yucatán
Article by Simon Walker
Hurricane Wilma left one million refugees and at least 8 dead after passing over the Mexican states of Quintana Roo and Yucatán. Unfortunately, not all sectors of Wilma´s refugee population are receiving equal treatment. Foreign and national tourists visiting the area receive the “five star” treatment, while poor and indigenous refugees are throw into significantly less comfortable, “hotels de paso.”
Tourists from other Mexican states and abroad (mainly the US) are receiving three hot meals a day, water, blankets, and even internet service to communicate with their families back home. The government is making every effort to care for them and get them home as soon as possible. Indigenous Mayans who were forced to seek shelter in Yucatán’s capital of Mérida have been greeted much less warmly. According to reports, these refugees were given two bottles of water, a bag of crackers a day, and nothing to sleep on but a foam mattress.
María Chi, a refugee residing in one of Mérida’s shelters, requested help from state and municipal authorities to provide for her hungry children. “They have only eaten a packet of crackers and two bottles of water; no one has brought us sufficient food,” she said.
This disparity of treatment refugees are receiving on the Yucatán peninsula is likely to be mirrored in the types of aid packages and reconstruction efforts implemented in southern Mexico in the wake of hurricanes Stan and Wilma. The tourist resort areas and hotel chains in Yucatán and Quintana Roo will most certainly receive aid faster and in greater quantities than the small villages and coffee farms of Chiapas.
Soon after Wilma’s passage, President Fox announced an $10 billion investment plan to rapidly reactivate the tourism industry in Cancún. The plan also includes a fund of 10 milion pesos for a temporary employment program to support reconstruction efforts.
Meanwhile, Fox has authorized a mere 8.5 billion pesos for reconstruction and releif efforts in Chiapas. This is only half of the more than 15 billion pesos the state government estimates will be necessary to rebuild infrastructure in the state.
Sources: La Jornada http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2005/10/24/039n1est.php
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2005/10/23/036n1est.php
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2005/10/23/037n1est.php
Hurricane Wilma left one million refugees and at least 8 dead after passing over the Mexican states of Quintana Roo and Yucatán. Unfortunately, not all sectors of Wilma´s refugee population are receiving equal treatment. Foreign and national tourists visiting the area receive the “five star” treatment, while poor and indigenous refugees are throw into significantly less comfortable, “hotels de paso.”
Tourists from other Mexican states and abroad (mainly the US) are receiving three hot meals a day, water, blankets, and even internet service to communicate with their families back home. The government is making every effort to care for them and get them home as soon as possible. Indigenous Mayans who were forced to seek shelter in Yucatán’s capital of Mérida have been greeted much less warmly. According to reports, these refugees were given two bottles of water, a bag of crackers a day, and nothing to sleep on but a foam mattress.
María Chi, a refugee residing in one of Mérida’s shelters, requested help from state and municipal authorities to provide for her hungry children. “They have only eaten a packet of crackers and two bottles of water; no one has brought us sufficient food,” she said.
This disparity of treatment refugees are receiving on the Yucatán peninsula is likely to be mirrored in the types of aid packages and reconstruction efforts implemented in southern Mexico in the wake of hurricanes Stan and Wilma. The tourist resort areas and hotel chains in Yucatán and Quintana Roo will most certainly receive aid faster and in greater quantities than the small villages and coffee farms of Chiapas.
Soon after Wilma’s passage, President Fox announced an $10 billion investment plan to rapidly reactivate the tourism industry in Cancún. The plan also includes a fund of 10 milion pesos for a temporary employment program to support reconstruction efforts.
Meanwhile, Fox has authorized a mere 8.5 billion pesos for reconstruction and releif efforts in Chiapas. This is only half of the more than 15 billion pesos the state government estimates will be necessary to rebuild infrastructure in the state.
Sources: La Jornada http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2005/10/24/039n1est.php
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2005/10/23/036n1est.php
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2005/10/23/037n1est.php
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