MAKKAH, 21 May 2006 — The raid began at nine in the morning, while the gang leader was still asleep.
Acting on a tip from the secret police, Passport Department patrol busted in on a small habitation in a public-housing district in Makkah recently. Their suspect was an Afghan. His crime: enslaving a group of children.
Arab News accompanied the authorities in this raid and interviewed some of the children rescued by authorities last week. Instead of going to school or enjoying childhood, these children had been forced to beg or hawk trinkets on the streets of Islam’s holiest city. Makkah residents seem to be aware of the problem of organized begging rackets, and have expressed concern over the exploitation of children and the handicapped.
After all possible escape routes had been sealed, authorities entered the house filled with children. Some of the children awoke as police raided the house, while others appeared to be so exhausted from their long work hours that they slept through the commotion.
The suspect, who was in the country illegally, has been arrested and is facing charges related to child exploitation. Arab News tried to interview the dealer who refused to talk, or even provide his name to authorities. He insisted that he was trying to help the children earn a living in their terrible conditions.
Abdulrahman, a seven-year-old Afghan orphan, told Arab News the suspect would feed him in return for hawking on the street. “He gives us toys and other things to sell for him on the street,” said the child. “He orders us to gather in one place after midnight to pick us up.”
The children said the man would punish them for not meeting sales quotas by abusing them, locking them in a room and depriving them of food. One child said he depended on the kindness of a local restaurant for food. Due to the impoverished conditions, the children felt dependent on this relationship for survival.
“Sometimes he would threaten to kick us out if we didn’t make enough money for him,” said one of the young boys.
Arshad, six, said he used to with his mother until the man came to their house, paid her a sum of money, and took him away. He said his mother urged him to comply.
“He told us not to answer questions about our parents,” said Arshad.
Salma, a nine-year-old Afghan, said she does not know her parents. She said the man told her that her parents died when she was born. “I’ve never tried to escape from him because there is no one that I could turn to for help,” said Salma.
The oldest girl, who did not want to give her name, said she was 10. With a beautiful face and emerging feminine features, she told Arab News that she occasionally faced sexual harassment from people on the street. She said the man advised her: “Take extra care of your looks.”
“I am very happy that he’s been arrested because I feel safer,” she said. My suffering has ended and I will go back home soon,” said the girl.
Organized begging rackets seem all too common on the streets of Makkah, typically involving the exploitation of children or the handicapped, or both.
Local resident Abu Ammar tells a story about once seeing a man begging with a severely handicapped child. He said the man told him the child was his son.
“The man panicked when I offered to help his child,” said Abu Ammar. “He gave me his name, which was not his, and a number that turned out to be wrong. I was surprised at this father because he refused my offer to help his child.”
Then, Abu Ammar said he saw the man a few weeks later begging in front of a mosque with a different handicapped child. “When I told the preacher about the man’s story, we confronted him together and he panicked and ran away from the mosque, leaving the child. It turned out that he rented this child from a poor mother for an agreed amount,” said Abu Ammar.
Capt. Mansour Al-Otaibi, head of the Passport Department patrol in Makkah, said busts of organized begging rackets are common. “We urge citizens and residents to cooperate with authorities to hunt these dealers down and end this problem,” said the captain.
