“A beggar for every citizen” is a sign that many in Jeddah are asking for. Jeddah — which is supposedly the bride of the Red Sea — is instead the bride of beggars. We are not exaggerating if we say that there is a beggar for each man and woman living in Jeddah. I have heard some frightening statistics about the actual number of beggars living in the city. The number was well into the hundreds of thousands and by now has surely reached a million.
Some of my friends have told me about visiting some very poor countries where the number of beggars seems far less than the number in Jeddah. They assure me that in those countries they never see beggars at every traffic light, every intersection and outside virtually every shop and mosque.
The reason we have so many beggars is a simple one. Our country is open for Umrah and Haj every year. Thousands allegedly come to perform these rituals but the fact is that they come to beg. The beggars have an easy time outside malls, mosques and at every traffic light. They come from all over the world; we often see women with infants and small children and wonder how they and their dependents got here. Who is harboring and protecting them?
As a result of begging and beggars, there are many short-term and long-term social problems. Begging is linked to crime and prostitution and in Jeddah we see all types of beggary. We see men and women, young and old. They disappear when there is a police crackdown but once the police have left the streets, the beggars reappear in force.
In Jeddah we also see car cleaners in every street who are often illegal overstayers though not technically beggars. There is little doubt that there are professional groups controlling the beggars. The professionals guarantee the beggars that they will not be caught but if they are and then deported, they will soon be back on the streets of Jeddah again. This is a great conspiracy against our beautiful city. We are suffering from both social and environmental pollution.
We are close to tears when we see other cities in the region which have almost no beggars. Strange to note that beggars seem to be disappearing from the streets of Cairo while they are doing the opposite on the streets of Jeddah. We have to ask what efforts are being made by the anti-beggary department? What strategy does it have to eliminate the problem? When will we see our streets emptied of beggars? Perhaps strong government decisions and enforced directives would help.
