Omar al-Jaffal is an Iraqi writer and poet. He is an editor
One homeless young man in the Karada district of central Baghdad told Al-Monitor, "[There is] coordination between some of the beggars' networks and the police, which prevents us from being arrested." Nonetheless, there are other dangers. A security source informed Al-Monitor, "Armed groups exploit the homeless in some provinces of Iraq." He added, "A number of those [who got involved with armed groups] have been arrested, and they are now in juvenile prison."
There are only two homeless shelters in Iraq — one for males and one for females. While there are no official figures available on the number of homeless, various unofficial statistics estimate that they exceed 500,000.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/04/iraq-homeless-struggle-neglect-exploitation.html#ixzz2y9AHirCh