As the issue of hosting the event of the 20th Gulf Cup has been somewhat resolved, some of Yemen’s host cities along with the capital Sana’a are going to great lengths to clean up their image.
In a move to hide what visitors don’t want to see; officials started evacuating the homeless from street curbs and corners. They scattered some of them by burning their blankets and belongings. “In our custom, you have to clean your house before you have guests. This is exactly what we are doing,” the Yemen Post quoted a senior official in Aden city, adding “Homelessness and begging are big problems in Yemeni cities.”
For Najeeb, 15, of Ibb, a small blanket and a sheet are the closest things he has to having a home since 2006. A dwelling home has got away from Najeeb who was born and raised in Mahtab County.
Najeeb is one of hundreds of homeless people who reside in Sana’a. The numbers of homeless are approximately similar in all Sana’a streets. In Bagdad St. of the capital, the Yemen Post counted 68 homeless cases. Not all cases were known.
Najeeb who has been homeless and has resided the streets for the past ten years said the small pay he received from his minimum wage job has been a constant challenge. “I’d be able to afford the housing, but not the other things,” Najeeb said, referring to food, utilities and any extras necessary to maintain a house.
Turning to family is an alternative for many, but not for Najeeb as some of his family members live far away, and aren’t in a position to help him.
His homeless friends he met have become his family. “If the cold doesn’t kill us, loneliness will,” he said.
Quoting homeless people at the streets, they hardly ever tell their stories. “We have to put our faith in Allah and hope things change for us,” with no one to speak, Samiah said, pointing to the government’s lack of action in addressing homeless people issues.
“We collect about 300 hundred rails from begging. How are we supposed to live off that?”
Sadly, in Aden, one of the cities that will host the event of the twentieth session of the Arabian Gulf Cup on November and is known for its generosity toward the homeless, police have been arresting homeless people who live there and, in some cases, relocating them to the outer edge of the city.
However, a stone’s throw away from the presidential palace in Aden are the homeless who for mental health reasons, age, and disability have found themselves in the streets. They no more have the ability or options to get off the street unless they find an agency or organization that is willing and able to do for them what they cannot do for themselves.
Hundreds of children experience homelessness in Yemen according to a new medical report that says most cites have inadequate plans to address the worsening problem. “Losing one’s home can cause illness and aggravate existing health conditions for homeless children who tend to be in poorer health,” the report said.
“Many children live in abandoned buildings, cardboard boxes, parks or in the streets,” said Chairman of SEYAJ Organization for Childhood Protection Ahmed Al-Gurashi.” Children end up on the streets as they may have no choice. Many are abandoned, orphaned, or neglected by their parents,” said Al-Gurashi, adding “Many children also work in the streets because their earnings are needed by their families.”