Taiwan: The future for the aboriginal people after Typhoon Morakot · Global Voices
Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan Aug. 7-9, triggering the worst flooding in 50 years in southern Taiwan and leading to landslides that buried remote mountainous villages and tribal settlements. In order to speed up the post-disaster reconstruction, the Legislative Yuan passed an urgent special statute to raise a special budget on 27 of August. However, the Statue authorizes governments at all levels to impose compulsory relocation of villages or tribal settlements from areas vulnerable to floods and landslides to safer areas. 310
For aboriginal people, the geographical location and tribal community are crucial to the preservation of their culture and tradition, many are worried that the “compulsory relocation policy” would make their more vulnerable in the future.
Home buried in mud
imagelight visited Mashia village and reported,
橋樑房屋無一倖免，全被土石流吞噬…村裡像是剛戰爭過一樣…還有二十幾名村民被埋在土石堆裡。
The bridges and buildings were all engulfed by the mudslide…The village looks like a battlefield… More than twenty people were buried in the mud.
由於道路不通，電力一直無法恢復…晚餐五點多就開始吃了，就是怕天色暗了夾不到菜…現在要清理道路，就是希望可以將山上的水果運送到山下去賣，順道帶幾部發電機回來。
Because the roads are still blocked by the mud, there is no electricity…Villagers have to eat dinner at 5pm or they have to eat in the dark after sunset…Now the residents are trying to clean the roads so that they can bring fruits to sell in the markets and bring back some electricity generators.
After the typhoon, many people from other less affected aboriginal villages bring food and generators across the mountains to these isolated villages. <PERSON> reported,
遠從宜蘭、桃園、新竹來的泰雅族勇士(包括女性)，以最簡單的提袋(ka-chi-a)綁上綿繩和塑膠水管當背包，揹著重重的民生物資，徒步越過已不成路的土石堆，進入鄒族部落。這樣的行動持續超過兩個禮拜。
The Atayal people (including women) from Yilan, Taoyuan, and Hsinzu have carried these heavy supplies with the backpacks made of simple bags, cotton ropes, and plastic tubes for two weeks. They walked across the mountains to go to the Tsou villages.
The government asks the survivors to evacuate, but many of the villagers prefer to stay in the villages. <PERSON> explained their reasons.
居民不願下山「是擔心政府之後就不開路，我們就回不了家」…「下了山，我們就不是『居 民』，而是『難民』。」三民國中教師葉一萱指出，原住民離開部落，幾乎不受任何法律保障。 368