The streets are set to become haunts of beggars once again this Ramadan, as the scroungers devise innovative methods to hypnotize people to reach for their wallets and hand over big bucks.
Beggars have never failed to come up with different tricks, especially taking advantage of people’s sentiments during the holy month of Ramadan.
One of the latest techniques adopted by beggars entails sending a child to seek money for an allegedly sick family member who needs urgent medical assistance. Pitying the child, the victim usually pays more than the usual amount of money.
Beggars in the Kingdom have employed numerous ploys including presenting forging medical documents, faking physical disability and going as far as claiming to be gravely ill to substantiate their claim for money.
Victims are tricked as they feel for the beggars and are afraid to refuse giving them money since Ramadan is a month when Muslims are encouraged to give to charity.
Karam Shadi, a Lebanese expatriate living in the Kingdom, told Arab News that he has come across several children begging on the streets.
“I was once approached by a kid in tattered clothes in Makkah last Ramadan. He said his mother was admitted to a hospital due to some sickness and a surgery would cost him SR 17,000 which he cannot afford,” says Shadi. “I was convinced and pitied the little boy paying him SR 150, an amount I have never offered any beggar before. Afterward I was warned of such tricks used by beggars and have vowed to never fall for such ploys.”
Shadi says that Ramadan is a time when most beggars swarm the streets in hopes of collecting more money because it is the month of giving and when one refuses to give, some beggars start reciting verses of the Qur’an and mention that God has sent them on a test.
Ramadan is one of the most profitable months for beggars, since it is the best chance for them to play on the sentiments of people. As such, their presence is heavily felt in all the main streets and districts across the Kingdom and is most pronounced at mosques around prayer times.
According to Sara Al-Asmari, a Saudi mother of four, it is very hard to tell if a beggar is genuinely asking for money or is a fraud. “When beggars notice that you’re a Saudi, they assume that you are rich,” says Al-Asmari. “Beggars come up with different tricks nowadays to fool people into giving them money.”
Al-Asmari says that some years back, beggars used to play a trick where they would drive a car with a few children inside and pretend like they lost their money while performing Umrah and needed money for food and petrol refill, so they could return to their home in Taif. The man would promise to pay back the money by requesting for the bank account details and never return them.
“My husband once came across a finely dressed man who asked for SR 200, promising to pay back the money,” says Al-Asmari. “Upon questioning the man, he said that his children haven’t had any food for two days and when my husband offered to take them to a restaurant, the man refused saying he only wanted the money and would take care of the rest.”
“It is prohibited to beg in Islam, unless the person is severely poverty-stricken and is too ill to work to earn a living,” says Abdulrahman Barri, imam at a mosque on Madinah Road, Jeddah. “Action should be taken against fake beggars, especially during Ramadan, when people must give sadaka and help those who really cannot afford to make a living, rather than those who deceive people.”
Recently, Jeddah police launched an operation in various parts of the governorate to round up antisocial elements, including beggars.
Nawwaf Al-Bouq, spokesman for the Jeddah police, urged citizens to report any violation or incident on the toll free numbers. “We expect everybody to cooperate with us. They should refrain from giving money to beggars because many of them make begging their profession, and they become more active during Ramadan,” said Al-Bouq.
Ramadan and the Problem of Beggars
There are reasons to suspect that every foreigner coming to Makkah in ihram is not a pilgrim. Several poor foreigners are lured by the prospects of the profitable trade of begging in the holy city, particularly in the month of Ramadan.
In most cases, these beggars are not ready to leave the Kingdom after the expiry of their visas and eventually end up in the detention centers run by the Anti-Beggary Department. Authorities have occasionally found entire families, including small children, earning a lot of money through this loathsome trade.
The matter becomes horrifying when some gangs resort to the mutilation of healthy children in order to make them effective beggars. It is suspected that there are criminal gangs who buy or hire children from poor countries to force them to beg in the holy cities.
In a visit to the Misfala district in Makkah, Arab News found a 60-year-old Arab man in a small park not far from the Anti-Beggary Department office. His artificial leg had been removed so that passersby could see clearly the crude stump of his bare amputated leg.
“I am hungry. I came here with my daughter from a neighboring country on the first day of Ramadan. A few days after our arrival I lost my way. I don’t know where my daughter is. I don’t know what to do without her. Can you help this poor old man,” he replied stretching his hand apparently for some money.
I assured him that I could help him find the missing daughter by taking him to the nearest police station. On hearing the word “police” the man shrunk back saying it was no use and he could manage without the police. “I am very tired and cannot move an inch,” he said.
When I asked him why he was sitting in the hot sun, he said he would move to the shade when the heat was too much. Then I left him and watched him from a distance. I found him drawing the attention of passersby and receiving money from them.
A detained beggar at the Makkah Anti-Beggary Department jail, Ibrahim Qaid of Yemeni nationality, said he and several others crossed the mountainous Saudi-Yemen border with the help of a smuggler. The smuggler took them to Makkah for a huge fee. “Unfortunately, two days after our arrival in Makkah I was arrested while begging,” he said. He is now awaiting deportation.
Mansour Al-Hazmi, director of the Anti-Beggary Department in Makkah, said that about 98 percent of beggars were foreigners of various nationalities. Some of them are legal residents while others are overstayers.
“There are several families who send their children for begging. There are also organized groups who bring in children from poor countries and disfigure them for begging,” Al-Hazmi said, adding that begging usually peaks in Ramadan — a time when people are usually more charitable.
Muhammad Shafi, chairman of the Joint Committee to Combat Begging, said: “The begging gangs are very active in the holy month because it is a time when they are able to earn huge sums. There are organized networks of gangs that arrange for beggars to enter the Kingdom. They also plan their activities, including mutilating them in order to evoke the pity of onlookers.”
