Manama: Security authorities have arrested 112 beggars in a day in the Saudi capital Riyadh

The beggars detained on Saturday were from different nationalities and included one child.

They were all referred to the competent authorities in the Ministry of Labour and Social Development, a spokesperson for the police in Riyadh said.

The arrests were part of a campaign to combat begging during Ramadan, a month that sees higher levels of worships and generosity among Muslims. However, the month is regularly used by beggars to ask for more money, especially from Muslims near places of worship.

Saudi Arabia, like fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE — has been working on addressing the growing phenomenon of begging, mainly in Ramadan.

Last month, a spokesperson for the police in Makkah said that more than 2,160 beggars were arrested during the last six months. Most of the beggars were from Arab countries.

Police in Kuwait twice in the first week of Ramadan posted the pictures and names of beggars arrested asking for cash near mosques.

The names of the sponsors were also listed by the police in a bid to help reduce the rippling effect of begging in the country.

The foreign beggars were all deported and would be banned from entering any GCC country while the sponsors were told they no longer had the right to sponsor anyone.

On Sunday, Saudi daily Al Riyadh reported accounts by witnesses who described how beggars operated in some areas.

“A beggar pleaded with me to assist her with some cash,” Siham Mohammad was quoted as saying. “When I told her that I did not have change, she said she would take care of it. She took the note from me, deducted an amount and gave me back smaller notes.”

Muflih Salah said that he gave two girls some money and walked away.

“However, I needed to go back to where I was earlier and I was shocked to see the two ‘poor’ girls get in an expensive car,” he said.

Salem Hussain said that some beggars now chose to stand near a pharmacy where they pretended they need money to purchase medicine required by doctors.

“Even if someone volunteers to buy them the medicine, they wait until he goes out to take it back inside the pharmacy and ask for a refund,” he said.