KABUL (SW) – Bismullah Habib, the deputy spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior, told Salam Watandar that the number of beggars collected from different parts of the country, including Kabul, reaches 35,000 of which 13281 are women.
According to him, out of this number of beggars, 14364 have been identified as deserving of help and the rest of them were professional beggars. Mr. Habib added that deserving beggars have been introduced to the office of the Afghan Red Crescent Society to receive aid. The Deputy Spokesman of the Ministry of Interior Affairs said: “A total of 35,341 beggars have been collected from the city, of which 13,281 are women, 16,363 are children, and 5,697 are men. Among them, 14,364 are deserving beggars and the remaining 20,977 of them are recognized professional beggars and deserving beggars are introduced to the Red Crescent and they are helped in this way.”
At the same time, Eliaskhel Naseri, head of the aid office of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, said that this institution, through its representatives in five regions of the country, which includes the provinces of Kabul, Balkh, Kunduz, Kandahar and Herat, has reached about 13,000 deserving women who were begging and are now receiving a living. He added: “We have helped 3,070 beggars in Kabul alone, and we have helped 13,000 deserving beggars in five zones of the country, including Kabul, Balkh, Kunduz, Kandahar and Herat.”
Mr. Nasser said that according to the decree of Hebatullah Akhundzadeh, the leader of the Islamic Emirate, the deserving beggars in 33 provinces are now paid 8,500 afghani a month and this assistance will continue.
Meanwhile, Salam Watandar’s findings, obtained from interviews with 28 beggar women, show that these women have not received any assistance so far. One of these women told Salam Watandar that even though she went through the biometric process, but so far, she has not received any allowance or assistance. She added: “We didn’t get any help during the cold winter, my husband is sick, he stayed at home, I have to sit here and beg.”
Shafiqa (pseudonym), another 50-year-old woman, holding a cane in one hand and prescriptions in the other, begs near a drug store in the intense heat in Kabul. With a trembling voice and a throat full of disgust, she said that, contrary to popular opinion, begging is not her profession, but circumstances have forced her to beg.
This woman, who is the guardian of five orphan children, said that she has not received any financial help from any institution. She added: “I have five orphans. Our children have no bread to eat. They cry every minute and ask me for bread. Their father was first disabled due to a mine explosion and then he was martyred in a suicide attack. We have no demands from the government, because it didn’t help us, only Allah can help us.”
On the other hand, Bibi Amina, a resident of the 6th security district of Kabul, who is sitting next to her sick husband and asking for help for his treatment, said that she went through the biometric process, but so far she has not received any help. This lady, who is ashamed of begging, said that she prefers death over this humiliating life.
Bibi Amina added: “My husband has had a stroke for three years and is paralyzed. I have a child whose neck is broken, he cannot work. Out of necessity, I have been in this situation for three years, I ask for help from seven in the morning until late night. I ask God to kill me because every day people look at me begging.”
Shazia is another 33-year-old woman who begs with her two children on the side of one of the city’s roads. She also said that she does not know about the payment of allowance to beggar women and says that if she is given allowance, she will never beg. Shazia said: “My husband has been in Iran for six months, we were wondering what should I do? My husband called from Iran and said that a smuggler has caught him, and I don’t know anything about him anymore. For three months, my kids sold plastic, the Taliban/Islamic Emirate forces had arrested them, they thought they were collecting charity. I had to leave my children at home and earn something myself in this way.”
Another beggar lady, who asks everyone for help, says that if their begging is stopped and they are not paid financially, they will be forced to sell their children due to poverty. She added: “In the past, poor lost children were stolen or families were forced to sell their children. What to do with the child when there is no bread? They sell their children because of poverty and hunger, we sit here because of hunger.”
Women’s rights activists cite poverty and scarcity, unemployment, illiteracy and the raging wars as the main reasons why women turn to begging.
Diwa Patang, a political activist and one of the women’s rights activists, told Salam Watandar: “Unfortunately, different governments came to the country, but none of them paid attention to the beggars. Your compulsion makes them do it. It is the duty of the government to provide conditions, especially to women who do not have guardians. The way to prevent the increase of begging is to provide them with work and education. The caretaker government, which always says that it adheres to women’s rights, should do something for these women’s problems.”
Husna Raofi, another women’s rights activist, said that after the ban on women’s work and education, a number of educated women have also started begging. She added that the government should prevent the increase of begging before collecting beggars. “The government is one of the main authorities and the first sector that should feel responsible for these women. We see educated beggars who have resorted to this today,” she said.
ENDS
