Homless stressed in lockdown for food and treated as criminal

Omi Gurung ►

‘We are left in a lonely place. It has been 45 days of lockdown we are alone. It’s all well and good for the government to say they have spent lakhs of rupees to get us off the streets. But they haven’t. We are the forgotten ones,’ Sujan Karki, homeless Durbarmarg area, Kathmandu, tells.

For millions of people, coronavirus restrictions have made access to food, water and shelter even more dangerous. “Rich people can stay home because they have a store well stocked with food and daily they are showing the varieties of food in social medias like Tiktok, Twitter, Instagram, face book story, youtube but it is difficult to street peoples who even cannot get one times of meal .

“For a survivor on the street, store is stomach.”

Its been a tough few months. At times, it can feel like the world is unraveling. Whether peoples are dealing with sickness, social distancing, working from home for the first time, and or trying to homeschool kids, it isn’t easy. We all want to get back to something close to normal.

We don’t know when that will be, and what that normal will look like, but we wanted to point out a few of the organizations, companies, and brands (big and small) that are chipping in to help. While the government has been struggling to administer tests and get enough supplies for health care workers, these organizations have directly brought resources to bear on the front lines, donated proceeds and supplies, or helped prioritize especially vulnerable customers like; Feeding America has a Covid-19 Response Fund that is helping to ensure food banks across the country can feed those in need right now, including the children who rely on school meals to eat. Doctors Without Borders is sending aid to the countries hit hardest by Covid-19 and strengthening the infection controls in its already established programs, as well as maintaining existing help in the 70-plus countries it regularly assists. The World Health Organization is coordinating efforts across the world to respond to existing cases and prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading. The Red Cross is in desperate need of blood donations if you're in a position to do so.

Medias are actively helping, supporting, ABC television of Indreni group also assisting the cash support to the needy peoples and street peoples who are in problem on the spot. Likely Avenues television is showing the LIVE and plays vital role for the needy people, distributing the food materials, health materials and other needy materials as required through the live telephone conservations with the peoples. Likely other medias are also assisting from their areas. I Want to thank everyone who have been actively assisting, supporting with a goof heart, no matter how big or small.

There are some people who have been homeless the reason they want to be housed is because they are worried about dying on the street now,” says Shankar. “Normally they know they can survive on the streets, but now they can’t get much food, they can’t get any money. There’s no one around. And there’s this virus. It’s horrendous.”

Shankar Rai, now spends his days either placed away in a park or in grounds or aimlessly walking the streets of Kathmandu. He occasionally breaks out and finds a public toilet he can use in a supermarkets or Malls, but often he doesn’t have that luxury. He has managed to get meals from different mess organized by social working NGOs and social working groups still offering takeaway meals on certain nights of the week, but he’s worried about catching the virus and having to survive with it on the streets.

Mr. Sonam, 58 years, who goes by just one name, had never gone hungry a day in his life, he said, and had always found a meal in temples of worship. But they have closed since the lockdown started since from one month.While he agreed with the prime minister’s decision to try to prevent the virus is spread by limiting people’s movement, he was frustrated with the government’s lack of planning for the needy like him.“I do not have a house to practice social distancing in,” he said. “I go from place to place, temple to temple, to eat. But the entire city is closed.” “In every crisis, the gumbas and the temples were all open,” he said. “We were still able to feed ourselves and our children’s and find shelter. I’ve never seen this panic in my entire life.”

In several places, districts, photos and videos show police beating people who are trying to get essential supplies. A video from different places of Kathmandu shows police forcing travelling workers, who were walking in road for purchasing medicines, to flight on the street to humiliate them. Police in Thamel and other places allegedly beat homeless people to evict them from streets.

Likely Shakti Lama, a street man says that “Police says go inside, don’t sit on the footpath go away from here but he says where should we go? We have no house where to go?”

Sometimes police have targeted daily wage workers, such as vegetable and fruit vendors, milk sellers, on duty vans and taxi drivers, and others delivering essential goods. Police have also allegedly stressed doctors and health workers.

The authorities in Nepal should take all necessary steps to ensure that everyone has access to food and medical care, and that the poor and marginalized are not mistreated or stigmatized. The Nepalese government’s responsibility is to protect its people from the outbreak should not come at the cost of human rights violations. If this crisis brings understanding that we need a specific response for street children, that would be a good thing. If it makes other people see these children as we do, as young people with fuller potential who are facing tough challenges, that would also be a good thing.

“We need to deal with the realities of their existence rather than just wish these street peoples away.”