JEDDAH, 28 June 2004 — With the summer come increasing numbers of beggars, and they are becoming more professional, according to the city’s anti-beggary chief.
Saad Al-Shahrani, the head of the Anti-Beggary Department, said some beggars had also taken to using novel tactics such as wearing elegant clothes and carrying expensive shopping bags in malls to dupe people and the authorities into thinking that they are ordinary customers in need of assistance.
He said that during the last three months more than 1,000 beggars — both men and women — were arrested; some 97 percent of them were foreigners.
Asked how the department was dealing with child beggars, Al-Shahrani said: “When children get arrested they are handed to the police, who record their personal information. Then they are placed in a hostel that is part of Al-Bir charity organization in Jeddah, where they are given social and medical care.”
Preparations for the Jeddah Festival have also seen a redoubled crackdown on beggars, he said. This was accompanied with a media campaign. “We distributed tapes and leaflets telling people not to help the beggars. That is very important if we want to reduce the problem,” he said.
However, if a beggar is found to be genuinely destitute, the department uses its contacts with charities to help them, he said.
Jeddah has a more beggars than other cities because it is the gateway for Haj and Umrah pilgrims from abroad, he added.
