Sharjah: In an effort to combat begging during Ramadan, Sharjah Police have arrested 33 people following raids in different parts of the emirate.
Most beggars exploit people’s religious and charitable sentiments to make easy money, an officer said, urging people to inform Sharjah Police about beggars.
A senior police official said the residents can report incidents of begging by calling Sharjah Police on 901 and 06 5632222.
The police had recently launched an anti-begging campaign by distributing booklets in both Arabic and English.
Police advise people to report cases of begging immediately because beggars bother people and distort the country’s image and many of them are involved in illegal activities. They use various methods to extract money from people.
“Some beggars pretend they are handicapped, have a life-threatening disease, are unable to provide for their families or need money for an urgent medical surgery,” a police official said. In other cases beggars provide fake documents about a fund-raising campaign to build a mosque or a school for orphans in their home country.
After analysing previous cases, Sharjah Police found that organised gangs are bringing beggars to the country. “We have realised that groups and individual beggars were issued visas. Our focus is not only on combating street begging but those who assist these individuals. Street begging occurs everywhere and, in Sharjah, we take the matter seriously as it ruins the reputation of the country and also affects the security. The presence of beggars in mosques and shopping malls or any other public area is not a pleasant image for the country,” the official said.
“We have arrested many beggars who were not only involved in begging but also in robberies, crime and prostitution,” he added.
