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Homeless in Moscow
31.03.01 11:39
Blazing Star
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Homelessworld Mailing List
March 25,
2001
Down and
Out in Moscow
By MICHAEL
WINES
MOSCOW THE city of Moscow estimates that there are
perhaps 1,500 homeless
people
among its 10 million or so residents, and on casual inspection, it is
almost
possible to believe that.
The city's
homeless are not the visible presence one sees on street corners
in New York
or Washington. They seldom panhandle aggressively. There are no
homeless
squeegee men that trade, along with
furtive sales of flowers,
street
atlases and other frills to drivers stalled in traffic jams, is
controlled
by those, however poor, who still have roofs over their heads.
But the
official estimate includes only those who seek government assistance
and can
prove, with a passport stamp or temporary permission slip, that they
are legal
residents of Moscow. Those lucky few are entitled to free meals, a
bed and a
rudimentary job while they get back on their feet.
The truly
homeless, on the other hand, try to avoid situations where they
would have
to prove their residency. Besides, it is still winter here, when
few in
their right mind are out on the streets.
These are
the bomzhi an acronym for "bez
opredelenovo mesta
zhitelstva,"
or
"without definite place of residence" and in Moscow alone,
they number
in the
tens, if not scores, of thousands.
They stream
into the capital from destitute collective farms and depressed
villages,
looking for work or shelter. They are ineligible for most
government
assistance, and medical treatment is rationed to those lacking
proper
papers. Even many private charities favor certified citizens over
outsiders.
So far this
winter, more than 200 frozen corpses
better than one a day
have been
found on Moscow's streets, stairwells and vacant buildings. Ten
times that
number of people have been treated for hypothermia. Most of them
are bomzhi.
"It's
not easy for them to survive in Moscow," said Yuri Makarov,
the social
services
coordinator of the Moscow operations of the Salvation Army.
"They
have
problems with the militia because they don't have documents. They're
without a
place for living. They're without food. Nevertheless, they prefer
to stay
here rather than live in their native towns."
Come at the
right time to places like the Paveletskaya railway station, due
south of
downtown, and there will be a hundred or more street people
mostly men,
but a few women and children as well
patiently awaiting their
daily bread
and hot soup ladled out of a Salvation Army kettle.
PERIODICALLY,
usually before big public events, those homeless unlucky
enough to
be spotted are rounded up and unceremoniously escorted out of
town.
Outsiders
often see the city's refusal to help its poorest denizens as
simply
cruel. But while Russians are instinctively generous to each other
to call a
Russian a friend is to make a lifelong commitment the concept of
organized
charity toward strangers is only beginning to take root.
Much of the
aid that does exist is provided by churches and evangelistic
organizations
like the Salvation Army.
The group
has been feeding some 200 bomzhi for close to eight years now at
two Moscow
railway stations, but here, unlike in most other places, it has
no beds to
offer, in part because real-estate costs and local opposition
have
prolonged the search for a facility.
"We
have many troubles with giving them very warm clothes like sweaters,
like coats,
because we do not get them from our population," Mr. Makarov
said.
"Especially we need to have many more boots, winter boots, and
shoes."
For now,
though, Moscow appears to have neither the inclination nor,
possibly,
the means to offer such
aid. Nor
has anyone else stepped into the breech. Mr. Makarov notes that the
Moscow
branch of his organization has not received a private foreign
donation
since 1993.
Copyright
2001 The New York Times Company
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