Najaf cemetery: not only a shelter for the dead, but also for the homeless

NAJAF, Iraq - A family of three, a mother and two sons in Najaf who struggle to make ends meet have for a while chosen to live among the dead in one of the city's cemeteries. 

The family's only breadwinner, Muhamad Hussein, sells tissues on the streets.

 "In my life, I have not seen anything beautiful. I wish I could live like any other person. I wake up early in the morning to sell tissues," Hussein told Rudaw. 

At midnight, the mother recites the Quran to remove fears from the hearts of her children as they see nightmares during the nighttime at the dark graveyard.

The family, who has nowhere to go, has been living at the cemetery for ten years now.

 The children have spent their childhood living by the graves, with one of the sons suffering from a disability.

"We don’t even have a life to live. I mean what can we do? God protect us. I have been living here for ten years," Umm Hassan, the mother said.

Reporting by Wisam al-Jubouri