“Many of the local beggars have begun going early in order to position themselves in the key locations outside and near the Grand Mosque,” Aisha, a Somali beggar, told Arab News.
Aisha added that it was not merely a case of individual beggars going to Makkah and randomly begging. She said it has developed into a business with the aim of raking in as much cash as possible.
“The most valuable and sought after places to beg in include the mosque courtyard, as well as roads leading to it and outside nearby hotels and markets,” she said.
Aisha added that simply sitting in these strategic locations can easily bring in a thousand riyals on any given day or night.
She also explained that begging gangs have developed, taking over entire areas such as parking lots and other open areas to pull in more cash.
“After a typical night’s ‘work,’ some gangs split up the money among its members and go their separate ways, while others stay together throughout the entire month and travel back to Jeddah much happier than when they first came,” she said smiling.
However, not everyone is amused about these beggary rings, with citizens and local authorities saying that the increase in beggars, noticeable by pilgrims and other visitors to the holy city, has become an outright embarrassment to the Kingdom.
“All year around, in whichever city you travel to, it is common to see beggars at traffic lights and marketplaces and we have learned to treat this as normal,” said Makkah resident Abdullah Al-Harbi. However, he added that the number of beggars rises at an alarming pace whenever the Ramadan and Haj seasons approach.
In an effort to curb this trend, the Grand Mufti has spoken out against begging, advising pilgrims and others not to give money to beggars on the street.
In addition, the local traffic police’s anti-beggary division has been working to arrest beggars and increased security patrols to help tackle the problem.
However, local residents have offered other advice.
“I think there should be a Kingdomwide awareness campaign against begging with signs and adverts posted in different languages near the Grand Mosque and other places asking people not to give money to beggars,” said Mariam Al-Jehani, a Makkah resident.
She also explained that if local charity organizations set up booths outside the Haram, letting the poor fill out coupons and accepting donations from them, it would be a more constructive way of allowing pilgrims to give charity and still receive the spiritual reward they seek.
