Liberia’s Price of Poverty...Persecute the Homeless

Have you ever wondered why a family will sleep in a grave or reside in a tomb? Do you believe that a family will, by choice make a grave a home? Or, is it now a crime to be poor and homeless?

These questions have become one of the key focuses of social workers, policy analysts and advocates of the homeless after the Liberian Police arrested, and the courts prosecuted and remanded more than two dozen persons including families, for residing in tombs at the Palm Grove Cemetery in Monrovia.

Most advocates and experts on post conflict issues and, individuals concerned about the well-being and safety of families, find the action by the Liberian government “inconceivable” particularly after a brutal war which led to widespread destruction of homes, rural towns and villages. “A mother will never want to put her child or children in such predicament, except where there is no alternative, ” one mother and social worker, Louise Dennis, said after reading about the detention of the homeless families by the Liberian law enforcement agencies.

“I am hurt and truly sad. The government is aware that several homes were destroyed during the war and should begin considering short-term measures and long-term programs to help families that are homeless rather than scold them,” Ms. Dennis said.

E. Saymendy Lloyd, chairperson, Coalition of Concerned Neighbors and also Founder and President of Women’s Wing Organization, based in Washington, D.C expressed surprised by the action taken by the government against the homeless persons.

“Those people should be released immediately. The issue is not criminal, but a matter of poverty,” Ms. Lloyd told FrontPageAfrica, during an interview. The two organizations Ms. Lloyd heads; Coalition of Concerned Neighbors and Women’s Wing Organization focus on assisting disadvantaged women, children, and the elderly within the D.C metro areas.

She said although her organization has not fully began operation in Liberia, she is taken aback by the action of the new Police Director, Col. Beatrice Munah Sieh and also the government for remanding and not assisting the families. “What happens to the families in jail,” she wondered.

“The President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf should call for the immediate release of those families who have been remanded for sleeping in tombs. The president should also find a better shelter for those people,” Ms. Lloyd said.

The Coalition of Concerned Neighbors and Women’s Wing Organization work with government and policy makers. She said the organizations envision a society not just in the United States, but also in Liberia, where families, communities, government, social service institutions and businesses can work together to provide healthy, safe environments in which, children and families can live and work.

Several other advocates and services providers for families expressed concern, that given the post war situation in Liberia, the two most recent actions by government was untimely - first the demolition of market stalls without ensuring that alternative sites were available for sellers, and now the imprisonment of homeless families who used tombs in the grave yards as shelter.

Northwest Medical Teams, a U.S based organization, during one of its visits to Liberia estimated that “one of Thousands of the estimated 350,000 Liberian refugees in neighboring countries was attempting to return to their homeland. The Team said that, because of widespread destruction of rural towns and villages, “these families were joining the 500,000 Liberians subsisting in temporary shelters in make shift, ragged huts” near the capital city of Monrovia.

“There are huge needs in Liberia on every front,” says Bas Vanderzalm, president of Northwest Medical Teams. “Years of conflict have destroyed the healthcare system, the economy and even the basic right of secure housing for hundreds of thousands of families.”

When, Jonn D’Martin was appointed by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to serve as chairman of the Housing Authority early this year, he granted an interview with the Sacramento Observer in which he said, “Homelessness is a significant problem in Liberia.”

Martin is also quoted as saying, “The housing situation has really deteriorated over the last 14 years because of the war. Most of the homes were destroyed and government housing is almost nonexistent. There are some 300,000 to 400,000 Liberians living as refugees in neighboring countries like Sierra Leone and Ghana. We would like to have some of these people come back home, except we don’t have homes for them.”

“Our immediate concern will be to find a means of rehabilitating these people,” Martin said. He further discussed the idea of constructing lower income housing outside of Monrovia to have people begin to leave the cities and move into the outskirts of town.

“It’s not a quick fix, but I think she’s (Sirleaf) surrounding herself with very diligent, very capable people so I think with everyone’s heads in the right place, it’ll probably happen in a shorter period of time,” D'Martin said about the housing project he envisioned.

What has happened to Jonn D’Martin’s concerns for the homeless people; Martin’s lower income housing project to accommodate families whose homes were destroyed during the war?

It is apparent that Liberia’s homeless families are now faced with double jeopardy – homelessness because of the war and now imprisoned for being homeless. Once in prison, the families may also be further reprimanded for being poor and homeless and may have to sleep on the bare floor, and face the dilemma of no food or if, they are lucky, less food.

The fate of the women and girls will also be determined by prison guards, other prisoners and police officers – for being poor and homeless, the female prisoners may be face with the dilemma of either willingly becoming comforters or they may be rape mercilessly.

A catch-22 situation and the vicious circle continues.

Copyright © Musue N. Haddad