Police arrest dozens of Ramadan beggars

Sharjah authorities are getting tough on beggars, making dozens of arrests during Ramadan and warning residents to beware of professional panhandlers.

SHARJAH // Sharjah authorities are getting tough on beggars, making dozens of arrests during Ramadan and warning residents to beware of professional panhandler. Police arrested 120 beggars in the past month following raids in shopping centres, mosques and residential areas. Also arrested were more than 40 illegal residents, many of them vendors of perfumes and pornographic films, police said. All face deportation.

Brig Yousef Musa al Naqbi, the head of Sharjah CID, said many of the beggars had entered the country as tourists, but had overstayed their visas. He called on residents to report beggars and illegal vendors during the remainder of Ramadan and Eid al Fitr holidays. The Ministry of Interior earlier issued a warning to residents to beware of beggars trying to exploit the charitable nature of Muslims during Ramadan. Many were "professional" and not in need of money, it said. Sometimes whole families were involved, the ministry said, and there were networks of beggars preventing "outsiders" from competing with them.

The ministry and the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments have launched a joint campaign to increase public awareness of begging. [e-mail]