MAKKAH, 2 March 2007 — Beggars in the holy city admit to renting other people’s children in order to extract pity, and hopefully a couple of riyals, from passers by, Arab News has learned.

On virtually any side street of Islam’s holiest center, the Grand Mosque of Makkah, dozens of beggars can be seen hoping to earn some money off the Muslim’s concept of sadaqa (earning God’s grace through acts of charity). Some of the women beggars that Arab News approached openly admitted to using other people’s children to help out in invoking sympathy.

One woman, who did not want to go on the record, told Arab News she pays somebody SR25 a day from her earnings as a panhandler for a child to accompany her on her daily routine.

In front of the Hilton Tower Shopping Mall, men woman and even pre-teen girls can be seen with young children in tow as they panhandle from shoppers entering and exiting the mall located near the Grand Mosque.

“We can’t stop these people begging on the streets, but we do not allow them into the Hilton Tower Shopping Mall,” said a security guard. “They harass the customers.” The profits from begging don’t always end up in the pockets of the people who received the money. One beggar told Arab News she pays an overseer her earnings, sometimes up to SR200 a day, and in return is provided food, clothing and shelter.

The border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia is considered by UNICEF to be a major cross-border transit point for child trafficking.

Last week UNICEF and Riyadh’s Naif Arab University for Security Sciences concluded a workshop on child right’s to establish a framework for addressing the problem of child exploitation.

“This was a landmark gathering,” said June Junugi, UNICEF’s Gulf representative. “It was a valuable opportunity to gain technical knowledge on the problem, share country experiences, and collectively commit to cooperation and follow-up action.”

UNICEF began supporting a shelter in Jeddah after Makkah Gov. Prince Abdul Majeed asked the UN organization to help support efforts to protect children involved in street selling and begging. Since then the center has received approximately 3,000 children and repatriated some 2,000 of them back to their home countries, including Yemen, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Niger.

Asif Khan, a Pakistani shopkeeper in Makkah, who chased away a child attempting to enter his boutique with another woman pilgrim, told Arab News this is a daily nuisance.