Dubai Police arrest 33 beggars during first 10 days of Ramadan

Dubai: The Suspects and Criminal Phenomena Department at the General Department of Criminal Investigation, in cooperation with Dubai Police stations, arrested 33 beggars of various nationalities during the first 10 days of Ramadan.

The effort was part of the Combat Begging campaign launched by Dubai Police under the slogan “A Conscious Society, Free of Beggars”.

The campaign is being conducted in cooperation with strategic partners, including the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai, Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai Municipality, Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department, and the Al Ameen Service.

Colonel Ahmed Al Odaidi, Deputy Director of the Suspects and Criminal Phenomena Department at the General Department of Criminal Investigation, said, “This campaign has effectively reduced the number of beggars each year, thanks to strict measures taken against those apprehended. In the first 10 days of the holy month, the campaign resulted in the arrest of 33 beggars from various nationalities,” he noted.

He spoke abput the lengths to which beggars will go to exploit the public’s compassion. It can take on various forms, including the exploitation of children, patients, and people of determination to elicit sympathy. “Several cases have been reported of women begging while accompanied by children,” Al Odaidi added.

He pointed out that the campaign targets all forms of begging, whether traditional—found in prayer gatherings, community meetings, and markets—or non-traditional, such as online begging and soliciting donations for building mosques abroad or claiming to need help for humanitarian reasons.

Al Odaidi advised against responding to beggars’ pleas or interacting with them out of pity. He urged the public to report beggars via the contact centre 901 or the ‘Police Eye’ service on the Dubai Police smart app, as well as to report cases of electronic begging through the ‘e-crime’ online platform.