JEDDAH, 25 October 2004 — Interior Minister Prince Naif yesterday emphasized the government’s determination to combat beggary as press reports estimated the annual income of beggars in the country at SR250 million.
“The Interior Ministry and the Social Affairs Ministry will address the issue of beggary to find a radical solution to the problem,” Prince Naif said and warned that non-Saudi beggars will be deported.
Prince Naif was talking to reporters after chairing a meeting of regional governors in Riyadh on Saturday night. He said the resolutions adopted by the meeting would be presented to higher authorities for approval.
He urged the Labor Ministry to find jobs for Saudi beggars who are capable of doing jobs as part of efforts to combat begging. He also instructed authorities to provide shelter and assistance to poor Saudi children.
The minister called for efforts to cleanse the minds of Saudi youth from extremist and deviant thoughts and ideologies and educate them on the basis of true Islamic teachings. “The Shoura Council has shown keen interest in this matter,” he added.
Although the government has taken measures to fight beggary, the number of beggars is growing day by day, especially during Ramadan.
On Friday, a group of foreign beggars attacked members of the anti-beggary squad during a raid in downtown Jeddah. According to Al-Eqtisadiah, a sister publication of Arab News, some members of the squad had sustained bruises as a result of resistance put up by the beggars.
However, the squad arrested 180 beggars of Asian, African and Arab nationalities with the help of police, bringing the total number of beggars arrested in Jeddah during this Ramadan to 600.
Ten anti-beggary squads backed by policemen carried out a series of raids in various parts of Jeddah over the past week. The newspaper estimated the annual collection of beggars in the Kingdom at SR250 million, adding that a single beggar would make at least SR80,000 a year.
The department for combating beggary in Jeddah said its officials had arrested more than 7,000 male and female beggars over the past months. About 80 percent of them were illegal residents.
Saad Al-Shahrani, director of the department, urged Saudis and expatriates not to give refuge to any beggars. The department has distributed more than 10,000 copies of pamphlets that describe the Shariah view on begging.
