Over 100,000 suicide attempts in 2010 by desperate citizens suffering poor living conditions

 According to a recent report by the Cabinet Information Centre over 100,000 suicide attemps were recorded in 2010 in Egypt alone. The study revealed that around 67 per cent of the attempts were by youngsters aged between 15 and 25 years with over 90 per cent involving men.

The phenomenon carried over into 2011 with close to 20 since the beginning of the year as deperate citizens engage in suicide attempts and self immolation protesting to the poor living conditions the country’s majority suffer.

Citizens have followed suit of the Tunisian who died after burning himself and was copied by numerous acts of self-immolation in front of Egypt’s parliament building this week reflecting the country’s high suicide rate.

Following the acts of self-immolation, a decree has been issued by Al-Azhar, the world’s most prestigious learning institution, that suicide is forbidden in Islam even if it was as an expression of anger or protest.

The country’s strongest opposition the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt believed the immolation attempts were a desperate message against the tyranny. The secretary general for the MB 2005 parliamentary bloc Ahmed Diab asserted that "One would only burn himself after reaching a state of despair".

The government however brushed aside claims that they were protesting against the political status quo accusing the individuals involved as being mentally deranged

PA Speaker Fathi Surour refuted claims that the acts of self-immolation were politically motivated maintaining that such acts should not be used as a tool for political blackmail to achieve unlawful purposes.