HADRAMAUT: Thousands of African refugees have joined the army of beggars in Yemeni streets, adding yet another burden to poverty-stricken Yemen. The refugee flows have considerably increased the number of beggars and created an unprecedented surge in the number of homeless.
A white-bearded man who identified himself as a Somali refugee moves from one mosque to another, seeking money from worshippers "I have a very big family and we can't pay for rent and food. Please help me and Allah will help you," he urged worshippers in broken Arabic. Female beggars are strictly forbidden from entering the places of prayer, but they usually wait on the steps of mosques. For their parts, imams vary in their reactions to begging in places of worship. Most of them leave the beggars to ask for money, claiming that there is no rule requiring them to stop people from begging in mosques. There are an estimated half a million Somali refugees in Yemen.
In the coastal city of Mukalla in the Hadramaut, most of the beggars live in slums while others sleep rough in the streets. Local people expressed concern over the number of beggars.
Mohammed Al-Mahfli, an academic, said that the disorganized presence of the refugees in Yemen had produced many phenomena such as begging, robbery and drug trafficking.
"This is basically due to irresponsible authorities in the country. The refugees will increase the number of people who have adopted begging as a profession. The government should take the phenomenon seriously and work swiftly to solve it."
The nagging of beggars does not offend only the locals — tourists have also expressed their dismay at the spread of begging. Laura Kasinof, an American journalist in Sana’a said, "The beggars have noticed that I am a foreigner and sometimes women hold up their babies to my car window and will not go away.”
She admitted, however, that the problem of begging was not confined to Yemen. "People begging are common on the streets of cities in many nations throughout the world, and I don't find it particularly bad in Yemen compared to other countries in which I have spent time."
She attributed the problem to the scarcity of jobs in Yemen “There are very few jobs for Somalis in Yemen and thus the only source of income for the thousands of refugees in Yemen is begging on the streets. The only solution to the growing number of beggars is job creation for refugees. But of course this would require vocational training for many of the refugees.”
Speaking at a workshop on the legal and humanitarian position of refugees in Yemen and the role of the government, donors, NGOs and media, the head of the National Committee for Refugee Affairs, Dr. Ali Muthna'a said that the government would adopt a new policy to curb the increase of refugees in Yemen, noting that it was reviewing the procedures for dealing with refugees.
"The new policy will examine each case individually and grant asylum to those who deserve it. Others will be considered illegal immigrants. The open door policy has encouraged many people to come and the current deteriorating situation in Somalia forces many people to leave their country," he said.
According to Dr. Muthna’a, the number of the immigrants in Yemen is 750,000 most of them are Somalis.
