Over 200 beggars arrested in Capital in two weeks

The Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters has announced that as many as 231 beggars were arrested across the city of Abu Dhabi in two weeks since the start of the holy month of Ramadan, as part of the policing and security efforts to curb this scourge.

Major-General Mohammed bin Al Awadhi Al Menhali, Director-General of Police Operations at Abu Dhabi Police GHQ, noted beggars, mostly of Asian nationalities, were caught trying to appeal to the sympathy of citizens especially in front of mosques and in public places. Al Menhali urged community members to cooperate by quickly reporting the whereabouts of beggars.

Colonel Dr Rashid Mohammed Borshid, acting Director of the Community Police Directorate, indicated that the police and investigation patrols will intensity their crackdown campaigns to arrest beggars in areas where they are most likely to frequent. Colonel Borshid pointed out that cooperation between the police and community members is vital and extremely important in the fight against begging.

Colonel Borshid indicated that the arrested resort to begging as an easy way to make money without effort, and consider begging the most lucrative of professions. “This is fraud, not people in need,” he noted; stressing that most beggars are mainly thieves, who go door-to-door, become familiar with homes, and can later pose a robbery threat.

Abu Dhabi Police have recently launched a media and community outreach initiative under the slogan “Together against Begging.” This campaign aims to raise awareness about the growing risks of obliging beggars whose numbers seem to peak particularly before and during the holy month of Ramadan and the Eid Al Fitr holidays.