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Families attend a meeting with BP officials in Buras, La. Interpreters were on hand for some Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants. Language barriers have stunted outreach efforts by BP. (Sachi Cunningham / Los Angeles Times / May 7, 2010)With their boats docked and livelihoods in limbo, frustrated families meet with BP officials and hope for answers.
May 7, 2010
By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Buras, La.
About 2,000 Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants in this remote bayou community — mostly families that have staked their American livelihoods on shrimping and fishing — have found themselves isolated by more than just vast stretches of swampland since the gulf oil spill disaster.
Language barriers have made it even more difficult for them to be plugged into the latest information about temporary jobs offered by BP after thousands of fishermen like themselves have been put out of work by the oil spill.
About 200 of them gathered Thursday in a sweltering bayou restaurant, trying to contain their frustrations as a BP representative, flanked by interpreters, urged them to enroll in the company's paid cleanup programs.
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