HYDERABAD: The pavement outside a mall in Banjara Hills is where Ahmed Faris and his wife spend evenings these days. While at first sight they appear to be just another couple on an outing with a toddler in tow, the placard in hand tells a different story. ‘We are from Syria. Please help’ it reads.
A chat with the 25-year-old unravels his plight that began soon after the lockdown after landing in city for his wife’s treatment.
Out of funds and no means to return, his family of five – husband, wife and three children – is now stranded in the city. With nobody else to turn to, Ahmed said he’s taken to the streets to raise funds to pay for his rented accommodation in Toli Chowki.
“For the last two months we haven’t been able to pay rent (Rs 15,000). If we cannot get money now, we might lose our home,” said the young man adding, “We came here about eight months ago with Rs 50,000 for my wife’s treatment at Medicover Hospital. She had a gynaecological problem. Now the money is over and we do not know what to do.”
But these visits to city corners haven’t been very fruitful so far, said Ahmed’s wife. “All we get at the end of the day is Rs 500 to Rs 600,” added the mother of three. That evening she had left her two older sons at home. “There is lot of problems in Syria... we can’t get help from there,” the wife said as her eyes, peeking from behind the burqa, welled up with tears.
Like them, a few other families from Syria too have been walking the streets of Hyderabad – across Masab Tank, Mehdipatnam, Saidabad – with 'please help us’ placards. TOI caught with one of them outside the popular Azizia Masjid in Mehdipatnam. “Other members of my family are stationed at different locations/mosques. We need money for food, home,” she said, unwilling to share any further details.
Mosque official, Mohammed Shahid, confirmed that these families make the rounds of the place every day. “We have been seeing them for a while. Those walking in for prayers help them with small sums of money,” he said.
Though Medicover could not confirm Ahmed’s case in particular, an official there said that patients from these countries do visit the hospital – mostly for gynaecology issues or infertility – and seek treatment as outpatients.
(With inputs from Syed Omar)