JEDDAH: A number of master’s degree students at King Saud University recently launched an awareness campaign under the title, “You’re the Reason,” aiming to stop the giving of money to beggars, and to raise awareness about the threats and hazards involved in this action.

The campaign also encourages people to give donations and endowments through official channels, which are subject to strict control by competent government bodies.

Abdullah Al-Shomar, one of the organizers of the campaign, said that the objective of their campaign is plain, simple, and very easy to understand: “The campaign says that people should stop giving money to street beggars who are always lurking for everybody while they are shopping. These beggars get hyperactive in certain seasons, and cause havoc in our streets.”

Begging as a phenomenon represents a challenge for security authorities and citizens alike, as the number of beggars is on the rise in the Kingdom.

In addition, begging adversely affects the civilized image of our cities and limits the ability of truly needy people to access support mechanisms.

Here in the Kingdom there are more than 800 charitable societies formally registered at the competent official agencies and all of them depend on the donations that are given through the official channeling system.

Anas Abdul Raziq, another organizer of the campaign, said: “Stopping people from extending charity is not the goal for us. We are happy that the community members are so generous, but we want to channel this generosity to charities and establishments subjected to the control and monitoring of the state.”

Another organizer, Fehan Al-Delbahi, confirmed that during his several tours of cities, during which he met many beggars, both male and female, he discovered that begging is an organized profession, often with gangs managing and supporting it.