Senegalese beggars lash out at government ban
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DAKAR — A group of beggars cluster around a car in Senegal’s capital, to take some meat being offered to them: “We expect generous souls, not raids,” one of them told AFP in response to a government ban on street begging.
“The government wants to kill us. Let those who do nothing for us leave us alone,” added another beggar sitting in front of Dakar’s Grand Mosque with her blind husband, and two children under five years old, reaching out to passers-by.
In another street, a group of men and women in wheelchairs were equally scathing.
“It is because we are weak that the government is attacking us. They can kill me but I won’t leave here,” said Ali Ndoye, a man in his thirties.
A young beggar, Cheikh Diop, 18, agreed with the others. “Let them put us all in prison. In 2005 we were with several other beggars, beaten and dragged away by police... but we came back.
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100829com8.html
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