Akhdam shelter catches on fire… again [Archives:2005/829/Front Page]

Yasser Mohammed Al-Mayyasi
A huge fire broke out on Tuesday March 28 in one of the Sana'a zones near Adhban School that is resided by Akhdam, a marginalized category in the Yemeni society, left 14 people injured. A number of modest huts and tents were also destroyed by the fire whose causes are still unknown.

This is considered the third fire incident in the zone over the past few years. The horror-stricken Akhdam expressed melancholy over such incidents that compelled them to sleep on the streets. Many of the residents were cited carrying their furniture and kitchen tools to escape the fire to safer places in the neighborhood.

Fire vehicles were also cited at the schene, in an attempt to put out the fire and save the lives of women and innocent children.

Some of the victims confirmed that such fire incidents cause recurrent catastrophes and makes their living standards go from bad to worse, also saying that the government does not pay any attention to them.

They added that they do not receive any help except at the times of catastrophes and most of the previous aids were tents and kitchen tools that were destroyed by the fire.

They demanded that the concerned sides build them houses out of stones and cement instead of tents in order to enable them to maintain their dignity and live equally like other people in the society.

They cried that they live in tents where no public services such as electricity and water are provided.

It is worth mentioning that marginalized Akhdam is considered one of the poorest categories that dwell in different areas all over the country and they mostly live in thatched huts. Most of these people work as street cleaners and their career has become prominent over the last period of time in the main cities.

They proved to be able to make the capital more tidy and clean despite their low payments. With respect to this marginalized category, many researchers hold the view that the role of government and the non-governmental organizations operating in Yemen are totally absent and no attention is drawn to their problems.

Contrarily, other researchers hold the view that non-governmental organizations tend to exploit pictures of this marginalized category to receive financial aids in the guise of attempting to improve their standards of living.
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