Society gave the profession of street cleaning to the Muhamasheen (marginalized) not as a favor, but because society itself thinks that this profession is beneath it, and that – from their point of view – the Muhamasheen are the only ones capable of doing this work.
Despite this inferiority view and very low wages, the Muhamasheen have worked hard with conviction and have made our streets clean and beautiful. Yet, they are deprived of these meager wages from time to time, and when they try to demand their dues are met with violence, insults and beatings.
The last of these brutal attacks occurred on October 18th in Taiz, where the authorities of the legitimate government brutally assaulted street cleaners on strike. As a result of this unjustified violence, a Muhamasheen women had a miscarriage, and was taken to the hospital after the incident.
These workers’ rights were not only confiscated by the authorities, but they sought to force them to go back to work, as if they were dealing with slaves rather than government employees, who did their duty in exchange for what were supposed to be fundamental rights. These attempts were followed by violent beatings using hands and batons and military forces to carry out this brutal violation.
We at INSAF strongly condemn this behavior by the authorities, which exacerbates the tragedy of the Muhamasheen, and presents society with bad examples of how to interact with them. We demand that everyone join forces to fight this injustice, because it affects all of us. Our silence on the matter means our silence on everything that is going on and will happen to us and everyone in society.
Click Here to view video showing the assault on the Muhamasheen (marginalized) to dismantle their Sit-In
