JEDDAH, 24 November — A gang comprising 19 beggars was arrested by the anti-beggary squad in Riyadh on Monday. The gang resorted to various ploys to evoke the pity of the public during the month of Ramadan, when Muslims are more charitable. The leader of the gang is still being interrogated, according to Abdul Rahman Al-Nasir, director of social affairs department here. An expat, he has revealed that he used to pay new members of the gang to entice them to join.
Department officials rounded up more than 1,200 beggars last month. A 35 member-strong squad has been working 18 hours a day in an effort to curb this social menace.
The latest method employed by beggar-gangs here is to ask for money in the name of the victims of the war in Afghanistan. The gang leader posts well-dressed children near teller machines, who show to customers photographs of a man in an Afghan hospital and claim it is their father seriously wounded in the bombing. He needs money, they continue, to pay for their fathers’ treatment, and the upkeep of their homeless family.
A gang of beggars operating with 20 members, all from a particular Arab country, was also busted in Madinah recently, said Ahmad Al-Saghir, director of the anti-beggary office in the city. His office learned about the gang’s operations after police caught a ten-year old boy begging in front of a hospital. He subsequently revealed the activities of the gang and this led to officials arresting the gang leader.
All the members of the gang had come to the Kingdom illegally, the gang leader later admitted.
The owner of the flat where the beggars had stayed was also arrested on charges of providing shelter to illegal aliens.
Begging aids, such as sticks, splints, bandages and torn clothes, which were used to increase the helpless appearance of these beggars, were also seized from the hide-out.
The Dammam branch of the social affairs department organizes four daily campaigns against begging, which last till the early hours of the day, in collaboration with officials of the governorate, passport department and the commission for promotion of virtue and prevention of vice, said Muhammad Al-Zaharani, director of the anti-beggary office in the city.
The department also organizes programs to enlighten the public about how not to be tricked into giving to tricksters and other undeserving people. Ibrahim Abdul Lateef Al-Omair, director of social affairs department in Eastern Province, said the government is currently organizing a strong campaign against begging by using pamphlets and posters. The campaign highlights the negative effects of the practice on society and the economy. More than 250 male and female beggars were arrested last month in Jeddah, said Saad Al-Shahrani, director of the anti-beggary office in Jeddah.
