The other side of New York's South Asians

NEW YORK, June 21 (UNI) Notwithstanding a high-profile image Indians and other South Asians enjoy in the United States, some members of the community are mired in poverty because of joblessness and other factors.

"Generally, people's perception of South Asians is that they are a model minority and that the community abounds with doctors, engineers, lawyers, academics, software engineers and other professionals," executive director of South Asian Council for Social Services (SACSS) Sudha Acharya said in a foreword to the 41-page report released by it.

The report titled, "Unlocking the Golden Door," was commissioned in August 2001.

The survey was done among 626 New Yorkers, who trace their roots to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Indo-Caribbeans were included in the survey whose majority participants live in Queens, one of New York city's five boroughs.

The survey said, "Historically, South Asians and Indo-Caribbeans have come to Queens because of the affordability of housing, which, in turn, led to the development of an ethnic infrastructure of places of worship, businesses catering to ethnic preferences and social networks." Aharya, focusing on the flip side of the community, said, "There are thousands of South Asian and Indo-Caribbean taxi drivers, restaurant workers, domestic workers and small vendors who (help) keep New York running.

Yet they are almost invisible, and along with them the hidden poverty levels in the community are unrecognised, as well." SACSS is one of the few community organisations that served victims of the World Trade Center disaster.

The council helped the victims through counseling and rehabilitation.

The report revealed that the city's South Asians experience severe economic difficulties, higher rates of unemployment, increased levels of discrimination and harassment, especially after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

They also have difficulty finding culturally relevant services.

For example, the report noted, one in five South Asian seniors reported living alone, 31 per cent said language was a barrier to taking part in senior citizens' programmes, and 24 per cent reported that there were no senior citizen programmes available for them.

Fifty-three per cent of those surveyed said they had less than 25,000 dollars a year income and 13 per cent reported that they were unemployed.

The city, which has a population of about 8 million, is home to an estimated 400,000 people who have their origins in the subcontinent.

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