RIYADH: Over the past 10 years, begging in the Kingdom has increased substantially, with the number of organized gangs of expatriate beggars increasing to 85 percent of the total number of beggars, according to Social Affairs Ministry Majed Al-Qassabi. The number of Saudi beggars decreased by 13 percent during 2015.
According to recent statistics in a local newspaper, the number of beggars in the Kingdom recently reached 21,000.
Beggars previously arrested in the Kingdom received fines of more than SR700 million, of whom 90 percent were violators of residency and visa laws, having entered the country illegally and thus posing a real threat to the Kingdom’s social and economic security.
As the Kingdom’s legislative and supervisory body, the Shoura Council conducted a study about passing a law that criminalizes begging in an effort to target those who are either infiltrators or people who have overstayed their visas.
Some members have wondered about the fate of the Council of Ministers’ resolution which was issued in 2007. As a result, a committee was formed by the Ministry of Social Affairs with a number of government bodies, in order to prepare a national plan to deal with the problem of begging.
Members stressed the importance of legislation by drafting a law that deals with begging and organized crime, also including human trafficking — especially during the Haj and Umrah seasons.
Khaled Al-Aqeil confirmed that foreign begging gangs come to the Kingdom during the Umrah season. He said that the phenomenon is connected to other crimes such as human trafficking and deceiving philanthropists. Members stressed that the recommendation should include mechanisms and specialties that can be given to all government bodies to help them deal with the phenomenon.
Members said that the relevant bodies were responsible for this phenomenon, while Dr. Zuhair Al-Harthi said that the Saudi government spent billions to provide a decent living for its citizens. He confirmed that the continuing problem had revealed the failure of ministerial and government policies and their inability to implement instructions from the leadership. He said that these bodies should ‘climb down from their ivory towers’ and reveal the truth related to begging and poverty because, they say, the development plans have failed to achieve what they were designed to do.
The Social, Family and Youth Committee in the Shoura Council received the file related to the recommendation of former members Saad Mareq and Naser Al-Shahrani (the current president for the National Human Rights Commission) and presented it to the council for its reviewal.
The committee noted that the phenomenon of begging is growing rapidly and that it is important to take necessary procedures to curb it. This phenomenon is increasing in light of the absence of a deterrent system. The tenth development draft law called for the setting up of a system that addresses the problem; it is important to establish a system that deals directly with this phenomenon and criminalizes such behavior.
Many say that begging poses a danger since it exploits women, children, and people with disabilities, in addition to being a form of human trafficking.
The committee confirmed that the draft law aimed to define the problem and took into consideration all aspects of begging in order to eliminate the phenomenon.
According to recent statistics in a local newspaper, the number of beggars in the Kingdom recently reached 21,000.
Beggars previously arrested in the Kingdom received fines of more than SR700 million, of whom 90 percent were violators of residency and visa laws, having entered the country illegally and thus posing a real threat to the Kingdom’s social and economic security.
As the Kingdom’s legislative and supervisory body, the Shoura Council conducted a study about passing a law that criminalizes begging in an effort to target those who are either infiltrators or people who have overstayed their visas.
Some members have wondered about the fate of the Council of Ministers’ resolution which was issued in 2007. As a result, a committee was formed by the Ministry of Social Affairs with a number of government bodies, in order to prepare a national plan to deal with the problem of begging.
Members stressed the importance of legislation by drafting a law that deals with begging and organized crime, also including human trafficking — especially during the Haj and Umrah seasons.
Khaled Al-Aqeil confirmed that foreign begging gangs come to the Kingdom during the Umrah season. He said that the phenomenon is connected to other crimes such as human trafficking and deceiving philanthropists. Members stressed that the recommendation should include mechanisms and specialties that can be given to all government bodies to help them deal with the phenomenon.
Members said that the relevant bodies were responsible for this phenomenon, while Dr. Zuhair Al-Harthi said that the Saudi government spent billions to provide a decent living for its citizens. He confirmed that the continuing problem had revealed the failure of ministerial and government policies and their inability to implement instructions from the leadership. He said that these bodies should ‘climb down from their ivory towers’ and reveal the truth related to begging and poverty because, they say, the development plans have failed to achieve what they were designed to do.
The Social, Family and Youth Committee in the Shoura Council received the file related to the recommendation of former members Saad Mareq and Naser Al-Shahrani (the current president for the National Human Rights Commission) and presented it to the council for its reviewal.
The committee noted that the phenomenon of begging is growing rapidly and that it is important to take necessary procedures to curb it. This phenomenon is increasing in light of the absence of a deterrent system. The tenth development draft law called for the setting up of a system that addresses the problem; it is important to establish a system that deals directly with this phenomenon and criminalizes such behavior.
Many say that begging poses a danger since it exploits women, children, and people with disabilities, in addition to being a form of human trafficking.
The committee confirmed that the draft law aimed to define the problem and took into consideration all aspects of begging in order to eliminate the phenomenon.
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