This includes homeless people who have had to deal with life on the streets. For this reason, Dr Bernard Thill, President of Doctors of the World in Luxembourg vehemently condemns the begging ban.
Dr Thill was one of the 300 protestors who took to the streets to decry the begging ban on Liichtmëssdag (Candlemass Day)“Not everyone is fortunate enough to belong to those that are privileged in society. We should be ashamed of ourselves, that we as a society want to make homeless people invisible, who do not have enough money and who are forced to beg on their knees with a cup in front of them just to survive,” deplores Dr Thill.He continues: “We cannot just banish them from the streets so that no one can see them. I find it incomprehensible that we do not dare to look the truth in the eye and above all else that we cannot look into the eyes of those who need our help the most.”
The organisation Doctors of the World’s mission is to help those in need, including homeless people. Instead of jumping to a begging ban, Dr Thill suggests for people to ask themselves a series of questions:
“Why do we have this problem? Why are these people living on the streets? Why are these people begging? This is something that should be clarified with all NGOs in the country that are engaged in social issues so that we can tackle the problem together and that homeless people do not have to beg on the street anymore. This should have been the standard procedure rather than brushing the problem under the carpet and making people invisible by forcing people out of the City. It is inhumane, an unimaginable attitude for a society to hold at large.”
The President of Doctors of the World strongly believes that poverty should not be ignored, whether in Luxembourg or elsewhere in the world. Ignoring problems creates a large opportunity for conflicts to simmer and, inevitably, explode.
