Dubai: Officials of Al Muraqqabat police station arrested 34 beggars from areas under their jurisdiction since the launch of Dubai Police’s anti-begging campaign.
Brigadier Ali Ahmad Abdullah Ganem, Director of Al Muraqqabat police station, said there has been a 40 per cent drop in the number of beggars compared to last year in its area of jurisdiction.
“We have not seen any new or innovative methods of begging, just the usual ways to make people feel sorry for them. Of the people we arrested, 32 were Asians and two Arabs, of whom 17 were women,” he said.
He said that they are all individual cases and not part of any begging ring. “They were of ages between 20 and 60 years.”
Most of the beggars caught — 27 — were on visit visas, while only seven were residents.
“Beggars usually go around between 1pm and 11pm usually are near mosques, malls, private hospitals or at intersections and roundabouts,” he said.
None of the people arrested was knocking on the doors of homes.
The sharp decrease in beggars is due to the awareness campaigns and intensified patrols.
On the other hand, Al Rashidiya police station arrested four people begging in its jurisdiction area since the launch of the Dubai Police campaign against begging a few weeks before Ramadan.
One of the beggars was a 74-year-old man and another was 54.
The anti-begging campaign team comprises 21 officers, with representatives from each police station.
They patrol the city while receiving tip-offs from the public in order to curb begging in the city.
Police urged citizens to call the police with tip-offs about beggars, as they abuse people’s humanity and make money out of it, when they are not in actual need.
The tip-off can be given anonymously and all that is needed is providing the place where they witnessed the beggar.
People can call the task force directly on 052-2106969 or report them to 800 CID (800243).
