Beggars at the doors of homes and near mosques and hospitals… and others cover themselves by selling prayer beads

During its tour of various residential areas, Emirates Today spotted beggars of Arab and Asian nationalities, men and women, and others near mosques, hospitals, and inside shopping center parking lots, and it was noteworthy that some of them were carrying children to enlist the kindness of benefactors.

Beggars resort to more organized methods, as they stop passers-by and offer them simple, poorly made goods, such as digital tasbeeh counters, car fresheners, pens, or prayer beads, demanding that they buy them as a form of assistance to them. Thus, they give the act of begging an apparent commercial guise. Citizens and residents have confirmed that begging during Ramadan is an annoying phenomenon, repeated every year more than the previous, as groups employ Women and children to beg and gain sympathy in order to gain money, pointing out that the phenomenon of begging requires community solidarity to combat it, especially since practitioners of this habit invent new methods every year to seize the money of benefactors.

The matter no longer stops at begging in markets and in front of mosques, but rather beggars go up to residential apartments and knock on doors to ask for help and zakat, which requires tightening supervision from the competent authorities to prevent its escalation.

Ramadan spirituality

The professor of community culture at a number of Emirati universities, Dr. Saif Rashid Al-Jabri, stated that the holy month of Ramadan has a kind of religious specificity, so begging gangs take advantage of the eagerness of citizens and residents to give, to stand together, and to give out alms and zakat in this month. He said: “Beggars are organized in distributing tasks, spread, and returns.” Al-Jabri added: “Begging has become one of the social problems that exists in all societies, so we must verify the beggar, and not be emotional, and look for the needy from Our relatives and those around us, whom we know and know their conditions and needs, or give alms and zakat through official authorities.”

Criminal behavior

Mental and family health consultant, Dr. Hala Al-Ablam, confirmed that begging is an organized criminal behavior rather than a mental illness in itself, with the possibility of social factors that increase the susceptibility to the behavior or justify it, but they do not remove responsibility.

She added: “Professional begging can be viewed as an acquired behavior, supported by direct reinforcements represented by quick financial returns, social sympathy, weak deterrence, and social learning in the form of environmental models (families/networks) that make begging behavior acceptable or natural, and cognitive distortions and justifications, such as claiming necessity, or taking advantage of people’s ability to give, or a child helping his family.”

She warned that using children to beg is a form of exploitation and abuse.

Consultant psychiatrist, Dr. Nofal Iyad, stated that professional begging is a global phenomenon widespread in poor and rich countries of the world, and that begging may become an acquired behavior, as some individuals are influenced by their surroundings. Once they see a family member practicing it, it turns into a habit for them.

Community solution

Social specialists: Muhammad Gharib, Sahar Al-Badawi, and Nouf Ismail attributed the increase in the number of beggars in the month of Ramadan to the spirituality of the month of fasting, and the habit of Muslims during this month to give a lot of charity, and their search for the needy to provide zakat and charity and help the needy, which prompts some fraudsters to claim poverty, illness, or distress in order to exploit the benefactors and seize their money.

They stressed that the solution to the phenomenon of the increase in the number of beggars in Ramadan is not only security-related, but rather by stopping giving beggars money, and for members of society to be vigilant, and not to follow the methods of beggars who invest in their desire to do good, and to actively contribute to reducing these phenomena, based on shared societal responsibility, and directing donations through official channels, through charitable associations and institutions accredited by the relevant government agencies, in addition to cooperating with the police agencies when monitoring any case of begging through immediate reporting.

Imprisonment and fine

Lawyer Salem Saeed Al-Haqi said: “Begging is a fraudulent and fictitious project that depends on touching the feelings of citizens and residents, but it threatens the stability of society. The law has called for not dealing with beggars who fabricate tricks and misleading stories to arouse sympathy and compassion among people in order to obtain benefit and money,” noting that most beggars consider begging to be their profession to earn money, at the expense of other people who deserve it, and there are also charitable and humanitarian organizations. It specializes in this, as it receives charity funds and distributes them to those entitled to them in an official and organized manner in the state.

Al-Haqi explained that the Emirati legislator stipulated the punishment for begging in Article 475 of Federal Decree Law No. 31 of 2021, issuing the Crimes and Punishments Law, stating that anyone who commits the crime of begging through begging, with the aim of obtaining a material or in-kind benefit, in any form or means, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months, and a fine of not less than 5,000 dirhams.

He added: “Also, the legislator in Federal Law No. (3) of 2016 regarding children’s rights, known as (Wadima Law), prohibits exposing a child to begging or exploiting him economically, and the penalty shall be imprisonment for a period of no less than 10 years, whoever violates any of the provisions of clauses (1), (2), (5) and (6) of Article 37 of this law,” pointing out that the law also stipulates that he shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of no less than six months. A fine of not less than 100 thousand dirhams is imposed on anyone who directs the crime of organized begging, which is committed by an organized group of two or more people. The same penalty shall be imposed on anyone who brings people to the state to use them in the crime of organized begging. Al-Haiqi continued: “The Public Prosecution may refer the accused in the crime of begging to the competent authorities instead of filing a criminal case, in order to work on his social care or qualify him for work if he is a citizen of the state, and it is proven that he is forced or incapable of doing so.” Earning, and he has no other source of livelihood.”

Organized crime

Lawyer Salem Obaid Al-Naqbi supported his opinion, pointing out that begging is a renewed phenomenon that rears its head from time to time in society, taking several ways to spread. He stated that it is an organized crime, carried out by groups and networks that exploit people’s generosity and their quest for charity, especially in the blessed month of Ramadan.

Al-Naqbi said: “Begging takes multiple forms, and is not limited to the traditional form, as electronic begging is also currently spreading through information technology means and social media platforms, with the aim of enticing users to obtain material and in-kind benefits by sending text messages, humanitarian pictures, and other fabricated begging phrases to help orphans, treat patients, or build mosques and schools in poor countries, among others.”

He pointed out that begging by collecting donations via social media platforms or via electronic networks is a crime, as Article 27 of the Anti-Information Technology Law stipulates that “anyone who creates, manages or supervises a website, or publishes information on the computer network or other information technology means to call for or promote fundraising without a license approved by the competent authority, shall be punished by imprisonment and a fine not less than 250,000 dirhams and not exceeding 500,000 dirhams, or one of these two penalties.”

The police authorities in the country carried out awareness campaigns to combat begging and warn of the danger of responding to beggars. Dubai Police confirmed that the “Combat Begging” campaign aims to combat all forms of begging, whether traditional in places of gatherings of worshipers, councils and markets, or non-traditional such as electronic begging or requesting donations to build mosques abroad, or claiming to request assistance for humanitarian cases and others, and revealed the arrest of 1,801 beggars over the past five years, both men and women.

The Sharjah Police General Command, represented by the Security Media Department, in cooperation with the Anti-Begging Committee, also launched the “Begging is a Crime and Giving is a Responsibility” campaign, which aims to enhance community awareness of the dangers of these alien phenomena to society.

Abu Dhabi Police launched an awareness campaign on its accounts on social media platforms to warn of the dangers of dealing with beggars, stressing that begging robs alms from those in need.

• 1,801 beggars were arrested in Dubai during the past five years.

• Police campaigns to combat begging… and legal professionals: imprisonment and a 100,000 dirham fine as a penalty for organized begging.