Bangladesh: Penury Keeps Hounding the Old and Invalids

Bangladesh: Penury Keeps Hounding the Old and Invalids In Gaibandha

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – HUNGER ALERT PROGRAMME

Hunger Alert Case: AHRC-HAC-007-2013

5 June 2013
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BANGLADESH: Penury keeps hounding the old and invalids in Gaibandha

ISSUES: Right to food; inhuman and degrading treatment; hunger; starvation; corruption; impunity; rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about several elderly people being pushed into starvation in the Palash Bari area of the Gaibandha district of Rangpur division. Most of these elderly people are living in penury with no family to look after them and are forced into begging or living on doles offered by kind hearted neighbours for survival. Unfortunately, the neighbours in this district, which frequently gets lashed by floods and droughts, are often in no condition to help. The elderly people do not seem to receive any help from the many social security schemes launched by the government despite being entitled to them. This makes a telling comment on the government's lack of commitment in eradicating hunger endemic to the area.

CASE NARRATIVE:

The AHRC has received definitive information about four single and destitute women and an elderly couple standing at the brink of starvation in the Palash Bari area of the Gaibandha district in Rangpur division. Among them, all the single women have been widowed for a long time. They do not have any family to take care of them. Similarly, the elderly couple is too old to work and has no one to depend upon.

Mr. Md. Mofiz Uddin, aged 80 years, lives with his 70 year old wife Saleha  in the Khamar Jamira village, Monohopur post office, Palashbari sub-district, Gaibandha district, Rangpur division, Bangladesh. The couple has been suffering with diseases for years and has had no regular access to adequate food. Despite there being a few government social programs aimed at guaranteeing food and health security for people like them, they have not received any help till now. Unable to carry on with manual labour through which Mr Mofiz Uddin has earned his livelihood, he is now forced to beg on the street for survival.

Mofiz has five sons and two daughters, all of whom work in menial jobs as daily laborers in garment factories or rickshaw pullers in Dhaka city. None of the children have proper education because of the family's poverty and had to start working from an early age. The vicious cycles of poverty and lack of education pushing them into further poverty has ensured that despite all their hard work they are too poor to support their parents at this time.

Mofiz has no farmland or other regular source of income. His father, Kasir Uddin, had owned land before falling ill, but had to sell his land to pay for treatment. Mofiz's physical health is quickly deteriorating. He suffers from asthma, eye disease and a neck tumor. Saleha has a disease caused by a lack of Iodine. Mofiz Uddin once tried to treat his eye disease at the public hospital, the Union Health and Family Welfare Centre (UHFWC) in Monohorpur at the village level. He was asked to pay 3000 BDT (USD 44) for the treatment. He was too poor to manage the fees and no longer goes to UHFWC. Needless to say, he could not afford treatment at a private hospital where charges are much higher.

On several occasions, Mofiz Uddin visited Union Council (lowest administrative unit in rural areas) members and the Chairman in order to ask for relief. Despite being given the hope of receiving access to the social welfare programmes, Mofiz Uddin and his wife have not received any government assistance to date. He realized that without paying a bribe, it is impossible for the extremely poor to receive any assistance from the government.

Similar is the predicament of 70 years old Fulmoti Beowa, who has been a widow for 12 years. Like Mr. Mofiz Uddin, she has no source of income and her only son is too poor to support her. Her late husband, Abdus Salam, had 170 decimals of farmland but had to sell it for treatment after getting becoming paralyzed. Fulmoti suffers with almost all diseases associated with old age like stomach pain, dysentery, joint pain and eye disease. She too visited the Health and Family Welfare Center, but no longer trusts their services after realizing that she was given the same medication for two different diseases. Further, when she visited the center more than once a week, she was yelled at for returning so soon.

The circumstances of her life had compelled Fulmoti to resort to begging to obtain food. However, her deteriorating health has rendered her incapable even for that degrading job and she very often goes hungry. She has also appealed to Union Council members and the Chairman, but has yet not received any relief allegedly because of her inability to provide bribe money.

The case of Sakina Beowa, aged 80 years, is even more curious. She had allegedly paid a bribe of 1000 BDT (approximately USD 15) to Union Council member, Mr. Masud, and the Chairman for receiving relief almost a year and a half ago. She did not, however, get either the relief card or her full money back. She had only been refunded with 300 BDT (USD 5) later. She claims that it is impossible for a poor person like her to manage 3000 BDT (USD 44), the unofficial rate of bribe, to obtain a relief card. Her husband, the late Goffar Akanda, once owned 50 decimals of land but had to sell this land to treat his heart disease as well as for paying for his two daughter's dowries.

Similar are the hardships of 58-year-old widow Sajeda Beowa. Having no fixed income or other assistance from the government and unable to walk due to sickness, her health does not allow her even to go begging for food. Her son, a day laborer, is financially unable to support her.

Another woman staring at the prospect of starving is 72 years old Sohiron Beowa, wife of late Kharij Uddin. Resident of village Nimdaser Vita, post Monohorpur in sub-district-Palash Bari, she has been a widow for almost 20 years now. She has 3 daughters and no son. All her daughters are married. Her husband was landless and Sohiron had made ends meet by begging. Having suffered a paralysis attack about 5 years ago, she is unable to do even that. The attack has left her disabled to the extent that she can barely stand with the help of a stick and she cannot walk at all. Her condition gets further worsened by Rheumatic fever that makes her body shake violently. Being very poor, she cannot get herself treated. She is occasionally helped by her daughter but that is almost never sufficient. She allegedly paid a bribe of 500 BDT to a previous Union Council women member named Beauty, but failed to receive the allowance card that could had entitled her either to elder allowance or widow allowance.

The story is similar for Khodeza Beowa, wife of Late Mr. Hanif Ali Sheikh, who is documented to be 56 years old but allegedly is much older in reality. She is a resident of Taluk Ghorabandha village that falls under Pabnapur post in Palash Bari sub district. She has been a widow for 34 years now and has 2 daughters and one son. All of her children are married. She has no farm land as her late husband had to sell all his lands for treatment after falling sick. They had made a living by taking up odd jobs and working as a housemaid.

She had managed to marry off two of her daughters after the death of her husband by raising the money required for dowry by begging. Unfortunately, the husband of her eldest daughter Hamida abandoned her for more dowry and she had to come back to her house. Now being unable to work as a housemaid, she has gone several times to authorities including Chairman Mr. Mazed and women member Miss. Beauty for getting widow allowance which she is entitled to. She alleges that she did not get the allowance as she could not manage to fulfill the demand of 2000 BDT as bribe.
All these elderly persons are facing the same government neglect. They are being denied their right to food and health which is fundamental to a life with dignity as a human being. It seems that the extremely poor elderly and widows living in Bangladesh have to secure their fundamental rights by paying bribes to public servants or representatives as well as doctors or the medical officials in public health institutions. It has been observed that most elderly and widows in the village confront the same situation.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Gaibandha is a poor and regularly flood ravaged district in the north of Bangladesh. It is one of the districts that is officially declared as affected by havoc caused by Monga twice every year. Monga, also known as Mora Kartik, refers to months of death and disaster because of floods in September to November and in March and April, which renders people jobless for 5 months every year. With no industries in the district, the loss of jobs in Monga months renders people absolutely jobless and exposes them to the vicious cycle of debt and bondage. The agricultural department of the Government of Bangladesh has never tried to help the farmers in need, not even at the level of policy formation. Farmers have to play to the tunes of vested interests for seeds, fertilizer, diesel and even electricity. The situation is so bad that even in those years where farmers actually manage to grow crops they fail to get good prices for them.

Conditions are even more arduous for the landless agricultural labourers who constitute more than 40 per cent of this particular village's population. With no work available in 5 Monga months of year, they depend solely on the mercy of landlords.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the authorities mentioned below demanding immediate intervention for ensuring food security of these destitute elderly women in the village. You may also demand an inquiry into why they are not provided with any of the relief cards and other welfare schemes they are entitled to.  

The AHRC is communicating separately to the UN Special Rapporteurs on the right to adequate food and on the right to health respectively seeking an intervention in the case.
To support this case, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear________,

BANGLADESH: Penury keeps hounding the old and invalids in Gaibandha

Name of the victims:
1. Mr. Md. Mofiz Uddin, aged 80 years
2. Mrs. Saleha, aged 70 year, wife of Mr. Md. Mofiz Uddin
3. Ms. Fulmoti Beowa, 70 years old, wife of late Mr. Abdus Salam
4. Ms. Sakina Beowa, 80 years old, wife of Late Mr. Goffar Akanda
All are living in Khamar Jamira village, Post Office- Monohopur under Palashbari Upazilla
5. Ms. Sohiron Beowa, 72 years old, wife of Late Mr. Kharij Uddin, living in Nimdaser Vita village, Post Office- Monohorpur under Palshbari Upazilla
6. Ms. Khodeza Beowa, wrongly documented as 56 years old although her original age is around 70 years, wife of Late Mr. Hanif Ali Sheikh, living in Taluk Ghorabandh village, Post Office-Pabnapur under Palashbari Upazilla in Gaibandha district

Place of incident: Palashbari sub-district, Gaibandha district, Rangpur Division
Alleged Perpetrators: Officials of the Union Health and Family Welfare Centre (UHFWC) in Monohorpur and local Union Council members

I am writing to you to drag your kind attention to pitiable conditions several elderly people are forced to endure in the Palash Bari sub district of Gaibandha in Rangpur division. I have come to know about four single and destitute women and an elderly couple standing at the brink of starvation in the Palash Bari area of the Gaibandha district in Rangpur division. Among them, all the women are single and have been widowed since long. They do not have any family to take care of them. Similarly, the elderly couple is too old to work and has no one to depend upon.

Mr. Md. Mofiz Uddin, aged 80 years, lives with his 70 year old wife Saleha  in the Khamar Jamira village, Monohopur post office, Palashbari sub-district, Gaibandha district, Rangpur division, Bangladesh. The couple has been suffering with diseases for years and has had no regular access to adequate food. Despite there being a few government social programs aimed at guaranteeing food and health security for people like them, he has not received any help till now. Unable to carry on with manual labour through Mr Mofiz Uddin has earned his livelihood, he is now forced to forced to beg on the street for survival.

Mofiz has five sons and two daughters, all of whom work in menial jobs as daily laborers in garment factories or rickshaw pullers in Dhaka city. None of the children have proper education because of family's poverty and had to start working rather early. The vicious cycles of poverty and lack of education pushing them into further poverty has ensured that despite all their hard work they are too poor to support their parents at this time.

Mofiz has no farmland or other regular source of income. His father, Kasir Uddin, had owned land before falling ill, but had to sell his land to pay for treatment. Mofiz's physical health is quickly deteriorating. He suffers from asthma, eye disease and a neck tumor. Saleha has a disease caused by a lack of Iodine. Mofiz Uddin once tried to treat his eyes disease at the public hospital, the Union Health and Family Welfare Centre (UHFWC) in Monohorpur at the village level. He was asked to pay 3000 BDT (USD 44) for the treatment. He was too poor to manage the fees and no longer goes to UHFWC. Needless to say, he could not afford treatment at a private hospital where charges are much higher.

On several occasions, Mofiz Uddin visited Union Council (lowest administrative unit in rural areas) members and the Chairman in order to ask for relief. Despite being given the hope of receiving access to the social welfare programmes, Mofiz Uddin and his wife have not received any government assistance to date. He realized that without paying a bribe, it is impossible for the extremely poor to receive any assistance from the government.

Similar is the predicament of 70 years old Fulmoti Beowa, who has been a widow for 12 years. Like Mr. Mofiz Uddin, she has no source of income and her only son is too poor to support her. Her late husband, Abdus Salam, had 170 decimals of farmland but had to sell it for treatment after getting becoming paralyzed. Fulmoti suffers with almost all diseases associated with old age like stomach pain, dysentery, joint pain and eye disease. She too visited the Health and Family Welfare Center, but no longer trusts their services after realizing that she was given the same medication for two different diseases. Further, when she visited the center more than once a week, she was yelled at for returning so soon.

The circumstances of her life had compelled Fulmoti to resort to begging to obtain food. However, her deteriorating health has rendered her incapable even for that degrading job and she goes hungry many a times. She has also appealed to Union Council members and the Chairman, but has yet not received any relief allegedly because of her inability to provide bribe money.

The case of Sakina Beowa, aged 80 years, is even more curious. She had allegedly paid a bribe of 1000 BDT (approximately USD 15) to Union Council member, Mr. Masud, and the Chairman for receiving relief almost a year and a half ago. She did not, however, get either the relief card or her full money back. She had only been refunded with 300 BDT (USD 5) later. She claims that it is impossible for a poor person like her to manage 3000 BDT (USD 44), the unofficial rate of bribe, to obtain a relief card. Her husband, the late Goffar Akanda, once owned 50 decimals of land but had to sell this land to treat his heart disease as well as for paying for his two daughter's dowries.

Similar is the travils of 58-year-old widow Sajeda Beowa. Having no fixed income or other assistance from the government and unable to walk due to sickness, her health does not allow her even to go begging for food. Her son, a day laborer is financially unable to support her.

Another woman staring at the prospect of starving is 72 years old Sohiron Beowa, wife of late Kharij Uddin. Resident of village NimdaserVita, post Monohorpur in sub-district-Palash Bari, she has been a widow for almost 20 years now. She has 3 daughters and no son. All her daughters are married. Her husband was landless and Sohiron had made ends meet by begging. Having suffered a paralysis attack about 5 years ago, she is unable to do even that. The attack has left her disabled to the extent that she can barely stand with the help of a stick but cannot walk. He condition gets further worsened by Rheumatic fever that makes her body shake violently. Being very poor, she cannot get herself treated. She is occasionally helped by her daughter but that is almost never sufficient enough. She allegedly paid a bribe of 500 BDT to previous Union Council women member named Beauty but failed to receive the allowance card that could had entitled her either to elder allowance or widow allowance.

The story is similar for Khodeza Beowa, Late-Hanif Ali Sheikh, as well who is documented to be 56 years old but is allegedly much older in reality.   She is a resident of Taluk Ghorabandha village that falls under Pabnapur post in Palash Bari sub district. She is a widow since 34 years now and has 2 daughters and one son. All of her children are married. She has no farm land as her late husband had to sell all his lands for treatment after falling sick. They had made a living by taking up odd jobs and working as a housemaid.

She had managed to marry off two of her daughters after the death of her husband by raising the money required for dowry by begging. Unfortunately, the husband of her eldest daughter Hamida abandoned her for more dowry and she had to come back to her house. Now being unable to work as a housemaid, she has gone several times to authorities including Chairman Mr. Mazed and women member Miss. Beauty for getting widow allowance which she is entitled to. She alleges that she did not get the allowance as she could not manage to fulfill the demand of 2000 BDT as bribe.

All these elderly persons are facing the same government neglect. They are being denied their right to food and health which is fundamental to a life with dignity as a human being. It seems that the extremely poor elderly and widows living in Bangladesh have to secure their fundamental rights by paying bribes to public servants or representatives as well as doctors or the medical officials in public health institutions. It has been observed that most elderly and widows in the village confront the same situation.

I, therefore, urge you to intervene into the case of Monohorpur Union to guarantee the food security of the poorest by

1. Ensure immediate assistance to all those standing on the brink starvation with special focus on the most vulnerable sections like destitute and single women and elderly.

2. Conducting a thorough investigation into the distribution process responsible for leaving the neediest out,

3. Ensuring that the health delivery system works efficiently as it is often unexpected out of the pocket expenditure on sudden illnesses that force the victims into selling the sources of their livelihood,

4. Ensuring food security for all those who are entitled for the same,

5. Ensuring that those involved in corruption and denial of entitlements to the needy are prosecuted,

6. Ensure that new livelihood opportunities capable of taking on Monga are created in the area so that the citizens are not left to the vagaries of nature and exploitation of landlords.

Sincerely,
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ENDS

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