Poverty and crime:Ramadhan doesn’t put food on every table [Archives:2003/687/Community]

Hassan Al-Zaidi
With the advent of the Holy Month, citizens prepare themselves for buying the basic necessities and other foodstuff during the whole one-month fast. They spend too much money on the month of Ramadhan, more than any month all the year around.
But as a result of the high increase of prices, and the deteriorating conditions of Yemen's economy, theft appears in the Holy Month as a normal activity of some people. It is of course a month of repentance, worship, mercy and seeking forgiveness and gaining God's favor. During the middle of the Month of Ramadhan, I was taken aback of a neighbor of mine who screamed at me loudly, “Come on, your car was stolen!”
It is a matter of bad luck to get up to a car theft, taking place in an adjoining neighborhood or even near your house. My car theft case is one the most dangerous cases that has taken place. A thief tried climbing the wall of my courtyard, crossing and challenging impetuously the sharp steels implanted on the wall of the courtyard of where I live.
It is an evil act in a holy month. Those thieves broke the glasses of the car windows in order to hry into the car and take everything in it. Also, another eagle-eyed person was left outside the house courtyard to monitor the situation from a short distance, in order to inform them of any danger where they might fall into a passer-by or security.
This evil act was in broad daylight, taking every opportunity particularly, the lethargy of people. This criminal act against morality, religion and human values has left a deep negative effect both morally and materially on me.
More sorrow than in anger, car thefts activities during the Holy Month of Ramadhan have been notoriously performed and in broad daylight. If we mull over such thefts ask ourselves, why do such robust youths resort to car thefts?
The main motives behind such thefts in general can be attributed to the spread of poverty among youths, unemployment, and deteriorating economic and security conditions.
There are other forms of thefts, which can be performed by the security men when they are on security mission. This kind of theft has taken place when I tried to inform them of my car theft. They have refused to go to the site where the theft has occurred until they were promised and then paid money.
“You! Security men are thieves. We are waiting from you to take the criminals' fingerprints and arrest them, and therefore you don't move until I pay you!” said one of doctors who has been exposed to a car theft in a police station.
One of the foreigners also has been exposed to a car theft. He is one of the managers of a company in bridges and roads. He is from Germany and comes to Yemen to work as an expert. He has been deeply frustrated due to misconduct on the part of some security men at the criminal investigation when informing them of his car theft.

Study on youth crime
A study has been recently published by UNICEF said that those who work in washing cars and also perform begging activities constitute 58 percent.
Undoubtedly, majority of those who practice this activity will restore to committing illegal acts including car thefts in case their living standards are not improved.
All those acts have takes place in a time in which our officials remained silent.
Where is the role of the security men? Have they ever asked themselves, why car thefts are on the rise and why do such robust youths restore to such activities?
Where do the foreign loans go? Why don't they reconsider the living standard of the poverty-stricken people? Several questions pose themselves and are in need of an immediate reply.
Does this indicate that there are other thieves who get accustomed to stealing billions of dollars and we at the same time find thousands of beggars and vagabonds loitering in street corners and pavements.
Recent reports have indicated that the Capital Secretariat alone has witnessed during the Holy Month of Ramadhan more than 7,000 beggars. Most of them are children, women and old people.
Around 48 percent of people live under the poverty line. We find these beggars in queues, lined before villas and houses of our officials asking them for alms.
The picture in reality seems even worse, when we see men, women, old and young, girls and boys all moving in great numbers and asking for alms.
Food security is really non-existent in our economy, and this in turn intensifies the suffering of people, particularly children, posing, for them, a very hazardous uncertain future.
All by all, deplorable economic conditions in Yemen has intensified the suffering of people, even during religious occasions such as Ramadhan.
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