RIYADH: The Human Rights Commission says it has not received a response from the Ministry of Social Affairs regarding information and statistics related to the incidence of begging and the exploitation of children, which the commission had requested one month ago.

The secretary-general of the Permanent Committee for Anti-Human Trafficking at the commission, Badr Ba-Jaber, said the ministry has not yet responded nor has provided it with the requested information. He said he personally requested the information on Aug. 9, but to not avail.

The commission has dealt with cases involving the exploitation of children in begging which is equivalent to human trafficking and subject to human trafficking laws, he said, noting that lack of information from the ministry is delaying rulings in such cases against individuals who exploit children in this way.

The Anti-Human Trafficking Law characterizes the exploitation of children in begging as a punishable crime, while Article 2 prohibits trafficking of any individual via kidnapping, deceit, force or threat in a way which takes advantage of the individual’s weakness, and subjects them to certain acts, including begging.