Elderly in Iran’s Kurdistan scrape by during financial crisis, pandemic

SANANDAJ, Iran - Latfullah Karimi, 65, walks the streets of Sanandaj from sunrise to sunset, collecting plastic bottles, soda cans, and scraps of bread from the garbage in order to make a living for his family. With no pension, he is one of Iran’s many senior citizens scraping by during a financial crisis and global health pandemic. 

“I was a labourer from the beginning. We had no social security so I didn't get a retirement allowance, which is why I have no salary now. Six years ago I stop working as a labourer because of back problems, so I decided to collect garbage. It was very hard at first. When someone I knew saw me, I would feel ashamed, but now I'm used to it,” he told Rudaw English.

Iran, already suffering under American sanctions, is one of the nations hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the country’s elderly, who number around 8 million people, were left struggling with little financial support and in constant fear of the virus.

Only 45 percent of Iran’s elderly receive a pension and 11 percent of them live in rented housing, Hussamedin Alama, head of the National Elderlies Council of Iran, told HamShehr newspaper.

By about noon in Ghafoor neighborhood of Sanandaj in Iran’s Kurdistan province, Karimi has filled his sack halfway and begins to sort through what he has collected.

“I have five kids, but they have all left now and I have to provide for my wife and me. With this hard work I might make around 25,000 tomans (less than $1) a day. I can’t buy anything with that,” he said.

Karimi gets some help from a government charity called Imdad, “but that's also too little,” he said.

He continues to talk as he gets on with his work. “With this income I can never buy meat, unless people bring it for us. Everyday goods get more expensive. My wife has been sick for two months and I can’t afford to take her to the doctor. And during the pandemic many people resorted to collecting plastic and cans. It has affected my work too, but I have no other option.”

Nabwat roundabout in the eastern part of Sanandaj is filled with elderly men who spend hours of their day there, some playing Kurdish games, others just watching people pass by.

“The coronavirus and the economic crisis have put an unbelievable pressure on me and people my age. We couldn’t go out anywhere in fear of the virus. And on the other hand, the economic crisis was putting psychological stress on us,” 71-year-old Salih Fathi told Rudaw English.

“I personally have a pension, but it’s not enough. After 30 years of work in the water directorate, I make 4 million tomans ($150) a month. Half of that I pay for rent and I can only afford basic necessities with the rest. I swear it has been two years since I bought a piece of clothing for my wife or myself,” he said.

“Most of these elderly men come out here to avoid fighting with their wives or children because the economic crisis has really taken our minds off everything. Whenever a man goes home, they ask for something and he can’t afford it, so they come out to blow off some steam,” Fathi added.

The pain of elderly women

Elderly women, especially widows who have no source of income, have sad stories that they keep to themselves. One of them is Sahna Mohammedi. She is 75 years old and resides in Saqqez in northern Kurdistan province.

“My husband died with the coronavirus in the beginning of the pandemic. He had no salary and didn’t leave anything behind for me. I was in a rental house and as prices increased, I couldn’t afford the rent, so I was forced to live in one of my sons’ houses each month,” she told Rudaw English.

“It’s very sad for me who spent a lifetime leading the household and having guests. Now I have to wait on the mercy of my sons and daughters. It’s very painful,” she said. “Imdad helps me and gives me 200,000 tomans ($7) a month, but with the economic situation getting worse every day I can’t afford anything with that. Death is better than that life.”

Charities say they do not have the resources to meet the growing demand for help. 

“I have been working in charity organizations voluntarily for years, but poverty has never been as high as these past two years,” an employee of a charity in Sanandaj told Rudaw English on the condition of anonymity. “Tens of elderly people visit us every day, many of them are women, but our abilities are also limited and we cannot help them all.”

“Even though Imdad helps many of the elderly, the aid is so little that they can’t solve any of their problems. The scenes we see every day are heartbreaking. It really needs someone with a strong heart to see this,” they added.