Watch as “grave dweller” in Iran begs for support from incompetent government. while tears fall from his grief stricken, sad eyes.
Grave dweller: homeless person who sleeps in empty graves to keep warm.
Widely distributed images of dozens of homeless Iranians, many of them drug addicts, taking shelter in empty graves outside Tehran in freezing temperatures prompted a public outcry and criticism from Iranian regime.
The photographs, first published in winter 2016 by the newspaper Shahrvand – meaning Citizen in Persian – and since circulated online, have prompted criticism of the authorities’ handling of poverty and addiction.
A nationwide debate on Iranian media and online between individuals, officials and several institutions has yielded proposals ranging from forced sterilization of addicts to free deliveries of hot food and rehabilitation programs.
The Iranian Deputy Health Minister Mohammad Hadi Ayazi acknowledged the vast scope of this problem, stating that 7,500 “grave sleepers” had been rounded up in a single day by security forces.
Widespread and deep seated poverty has led to numerous social problems and abnormal ways for earning a living. There are no accurate statistics on these issues but they are so widespread that everyone, particularly the press, is talking about them.
