Victims remain in people's hearts

By Hu Yinan and Cui Jia (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-14 13:05

Every death in the Sichuan earthquake has already been registered in people's hearts.

Victims remain in people's hearts
A man mourns earthquake victims in Beichuan on April 12. Last May's quake claimed nearly 90,000 lives in Sichuan province. [Zhang Wei]

Now a list of people who died or disappeared in last year's devastating quake will be published.

Not everyone will need to refer to it, though.

"I think of my grandson every day. I don't really need a list to remind me of him," said 56-year-old Chen Yuxian, whose grandson died in a primary school in Yingxiu, one of the worst-hit areas.

"We know everyone who was killed in the earthquake around here," Chen told China Daily. "They have been remembered since the day they died."

The list is among the actions pledged by the government to ensure the human rights of the earthquake victims, according to the National Human Rights Action Plan of China, released yesterday, which spells out goals for 2009 and 2010.

"There is a life behind every name on the list, every one of them deserves to be remembered and respected by all Chinese people," said Xia Xueluan, a professor of social sciences from Peking University. "The families of the victims will realize the importance of the list sooner or later."

The government also promised to complete the rebuilding of collapsed or seriously destroyed farmers' houses to ensure earthquake survivors can move into new accommodations by the end of December this year, says the human rights document.

"I have no doubt the government could build new houses for us," said Chen, who is still living in temporary accommodation. "But nobody has told us if we have to contribute towards the cost or not."

"I don't know if I can afford a new house if I need to pay," Chen said. "We have to save from scratch after the earthquake."

According to the document, plans to solve the problem of unemployment for more than 1 million earthquake survivors include finding a job for at least one member of each jobless family. The plan will also ensure victims' net incomes surpass the level before the earthquake.

The National Human Rights Action Plan also includes building and restoring elementary and middle schools to a higher quality.

"The use of relief funds will be supervised to ensure they are used for people in the disaster-hit areas and for the smooth progress of the rehabilitation and reconstruction work," the action plan said.