KABUL (SW) – Roadside begging children remain a common sight in the capital Kabul despite they being biometriced many times by the Ministry of Interior and promised help.
The begging children say that they have not received help so far.
10-year-old Mujib al-Rahman, one of these children, says that he and his six-year-old brother have been biometriced several times by the Islamic Emirate forces to receive help, and once they were threatened with imprisonment for reaching out to others. But not receiving help has made him still ask for help from others.
“They told me that this is your third time. They said that if we see you outside again, we will imprison you and your parents will not be able to see you. We have to, we don’t have bread at home, that’s why we come to find the money for a few breads and it will be our daily life”.
Ahmadzia, another beggar in Kabul city, said that he has been biometriced twice so far, but he has not received help.
“They caught me twice, the first time they took me and did biometrics, and the second time they took me and did biometrics again, then they released me. They didn’t understand that I already had biometrics, they said we will call you and pay you. They didn’t call.”
Even though the Islamic Emirate has been collecting beggars for months, but there are still many beggars in the city of Kabul.
Mohammad Hossein, who is more than 60 years old, is forced to reach out to the people for aid because of his disability. “It has been more than two months since I did biometrics but I swear to God, I haven’t seen any help.”
Leila, who with her addicted husband, begs for food on streets, said: “They did biometrics and said that we will arrest you a second time, but they have not helped us with money or materials.”
Meanwhile, the officials of the General Directorate of the Afghan Red Crescent Society say that so far, they have been able to help 641 beggar families in the city of Kabul and this process is still ongoing.
Mughrullah Shahidzoi, one of the officials of the General Directorate of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, said, regarding the non-receipt of aid from a number of beggars: “This problem will be solved this week. All these beggars are not helped and most of them are professionals and we do not help them.”
According to the latest statistics released by the Economic deputy of the Prime Minister Secretariat, at least 19,720 beggars have been collected from the city of Kabul, of which 10,901 are women and 1737 are men.
ENDS
