MAKKAH: At least 111 beggars and street peddlers under the age of 18 have been caught close to traffic signals and plazas in the central areas of Makkah over the past two months.
The children, both boys and girls, were caught by a team of municipality officials who have been tasked with dealing with the problem. The team said most of the children were foreigners.
Mansour Al-Hazmi, director of the Makkah region’s Office for Combating Beggars, said the children would be kept for 21 days at a children’s shelter where necessary procedures would be carried out.
“The parents of those who are legal residents would be fined SR5,000 while overstayers would be handed to the Passport Department for deportation to their respective countries,” he added.
Al-Hazmi said the children are being provided with accommodation, food and entertainment, and made to undergo religious and cultural awareness by male and female specialists and social workers. He added that his office would begin implementing a plan for this year’s Haj season starting Nov. 3 and which would continue for two months during which field monitoring would be intensified by teams of officials from the governorate, the police, the Passport Department, Makkah municipality and the Ministry of Commerce.
