BBC documentary: Slavery still exists in Kenya

In this issue, I focus on the people at risk of falling off the radar in the aftermath of the earthquakes in Turkey, Kurdistan and Syria, a BBC documentary that reveals that slavery still exists in Kenya (and two companies from the United Kingdom are funding it) and a rare win for an environmental justice case in Peru. Plus, some good news from South Korea (yay for same-sex couples!), Sierra Leone (best education minister in the world) and Vietnam (new musical instrument unlocked).

The death toll of the earthquake in Turkey, Kurdistan and Syria surpassed 50,000

Refresher:
On February 6, 2023, a Mw 7.8 earthquake struck southern and central Turkey, Kurdistan and northern and western Syria. It was followed by a Mw 7.7 earthquake nine hours later, and by February 20, more than 6,000 aftershocks.

Last Friday, Reuters reported that the death toll in Turkey due to earthquakes rose to 44,21. With Syria's latest announced death toll of 5,914, the combined death toll in the two countries rose to above 50,000. Millions of people have been made homeless and without food, potable water, and medical care. Thousands of people are still missing. There's aid, yes, but a lot of people are in risk of falling under the radar. An intersectional, transnational perspective to aid must be practiced.

Why this matters:
The natural disaster was one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in the Levant. It was felt as far as Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Cyprus, and the Black Sea coast of Turkey. It was the deadliest seismic event in the history of Turkey since the 526 Antioch earthquake, and the deadliest in Syria since the 1822 Aleppo earthquake. Furthermore, it was the deadliest earthquake worldwide since the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the fifth-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century.

What's the latest?
Amnesty International last week said that aid has been slow in coming and is applied in a discriminatory fashion on the basis of nationality, ethnicity, religion, migration status, and political views and, more than two weeks after the initial quakes, the needs of people and communities in the affected regions and countries continue to grow.

Do you have any concrete examples?

• For example, the central government of Syria has prevented or restricted aid from entering areas outside its control. As a result, at least four million people living in northwest Syria and Kurdistan under the control of opposition groups are left with little or even no access to aid and essential services. To be very concrete, according to Amnesty International, the Syrian government has prevented aid from reach majority-Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo city.

• But it's not just the Syrian government that is differentiating between who it wants to help. The Amnesty International report continues, "In northern Aleppo, armed opposition groups supported by [Turkey] restricted the delivery of aid to Kurds living in Syria." The New Arab's William Christou confirms this.

• In Turkey, refugees from Syria living there have experienced a lot of aid discrimination as well. "There have been credible reports from [Turkey] that Syrian refugees have been targeted by both civilians and state actors for physical abuse and verbal harassment in racist attacks and/or with hate speech. Reports also indicate that Syrian refugees have been evicted from emergency camps in [Turkey] to make room for Turkish survivors."

• Plus, The Sydney Morning Herald's Tawar Razaghi has talked to Kurds who claim, "The [Turkish] government has something against Kurds and other minorities and those who don't support [Erdoğan's government] ... there are even a lot of Turkish areas, which support the opposition, that have not been given aid."

Kurds and Syrian refugees are discriminated against. Who else?
The Amnesty International report warns that, generally, "Women, children, displaced people, older people, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ people, ethnic and racial minorities, and other marginalized groups often face compounded challenges in crises, including natural disasters, and require special protection against discrimination and racist attacks and abuse."

For example, for older people and people with disabilities, aid must come to them and a center-based approach makes little sense. Or LGBTQ+ people might be afraid to access shelter, medical care and other aid in countries/regions who are not known to be very LGBTQ+ friendly. Women and girls, whenever there is a disaster, are often at risk of sexual violence, exploitation by traffickers and reduced access to menstrual products and healthcare.

BBC documentary revealed that there are still tea plantations in Kenya run colonial-era-style by two British companies

More than 70 women on tea farms in Kenya, owned for years by two companies from the United Kingdom, claimed in this BBC Africa Eye documentary (Warning: Disturbing content) that they had been sexually abused by their supervisors.

Why this matters:
The two companies implicated in this scandal supply some of the United Kingdom's most popular tea brands including PG Tips, Lipton and Sainsbury's Red Label.

Tell me more:
The documentary reveals sexual abuse of women by plantation managers, backbreaking and lowly labor, and that mechanization simply increased the opportunity for exploitation as jobs become rarer and competition for them even stiffer. Some of the women interviewed in the report said they were impregnated and infected with HIV by the perpetrators, yet no action was taken on their reports despite the companies having a "zero-tolerance" policy on sexual abuse. (The East African)

Which British companies are involved, and what did they do?
The British owners of the plantations at the time of the abuses, Unilever and James Finay, expressed shock about the revelations, said they are investigating and fired four managers. Supermarket chains Tesco and Sainsbury's -- which have been buying from these estates -- have also condemned the actions. Coffeehouse chain Starbucks issued a statement on Monday saying it had immediately suspended purchasing from James Finlay & Co in Kenya. (The Star)

What about the government in Kenya?
Last Monday, legislators have formed a committee to look into the allegations. National Assembly Deputy speaker...