Child slavery rings have continued to evade the authorities, helped in no small part by parents who want to make money at the expense of their children’s innocence.
Arab News talked to a number of child abuse victims who were rescued by the authorities and are waiting to have their cases settled.
Bilal Osman, a 10-year-old Nigerian from the Hausa tribe, said he was living with his parents in Madinah until the last Haj season when an uncle wanted the child to stay with him in Makkah. "I never thought I would be separated from my parents, who finally gave in to my uncle," he said.
Osman said when he came to Makkah, his uncle asked him to beg inside the Grand Mosque from early morning until after Dhuhr prayer. "I usually made between SR45 and SR50 every day. I would take this amount to my uncle at his home in the Al-Mansour district," he said.
Osman said his uncle told him to tell the police that he was Saudi if he was ever caught. "I was caught by the anti-beggary police. I told them I was Saudi but they discovered my true identity and took me to a child foster home," he said.
Osman said he used to love his parents dearly but now he hates them. He said he was happy in the foster home because he was well fed and had made new friends.
Rayan Qasim, a 13-year-old Bangladeshi, said his mother asked him to sell head scarves to women near the Grand Mosque. "My mother would buy a dozen scarves for SR25 and sell each one for SR5, making SR60 if I sold them all," he said.
Qasim, who was caught by officials, said he used to sell between two and three dozens every day between the Fajr and Isha prayers.
He said his mother asked him to say he was from Burma if he was caught, as Burmese residents are allegedly asked to pay a fine instead of being deported.
"When I was caught, I gave the mobile number of my mother to the police but she denied any knowledge of me. I was born in Saudi Arabia and I am now waiting to be deported to Bangladesh," he said.
Qasim said he never expected his mother to deny any knowledge of him or that he would be deported to Bangladesh where he did not know anyone.
Abdullah Shah, another 13-year-old Bangladeshi, was forced by his parents to beg in the central area around the Haram with his two younger brothers. He said they would give whatever they collected to their parents, but the police finally caught them.
Gas stations along the expressways, traffic lights and mosques are places usually frequented by young beggars who give their takings to their masters, who are usually Yemeni. They live at the bottom of the mountains near Makkah and are frequently physically abused by their masters.
