According to a study on
begging published in 2007 by the Yemen Centre for Study and Research (YCSR), price hikes and unemployment are the main reasons behind the increase of
begging in Sana'a.
Although
begging has recently become a 'hot topic' for public debate and media commentary, (1) it has received relatively little attention as a subject of legal, public or social policy research, analysis or design.
"We're working with our partners to deliver an outreach programme to help support those who are
begging so that they no longer need to beg, and we're urging people not to give money to individuals
begging on the street.
"
Begging is spreading and has reached inside malls and commercial facilities, portraying a bad image of Bahrain," he said.
If a
begging ban is to be considered, it would depend crucially on whether law enforcement officials could be held accountable for enforcing it.
'We registered cases against 54 of them under the
Begging Act but they were punished only for a few hours when presented in court,' he said.
Mehtab, a 27-year-old man who was found
begging near Al Duri supermarket in Al Qasimiya residential area, said that he came from India to the UAE three months back, after he was "promised a job in a grocery shop".
Presiding over a meeting here at Shahbaz Hall on Wednesday which also attended among others by the DIG Hyderabad Naim Ahmed Shaikh, the Commissioner underlined the need of taking strict action against professional beggers and rehabilitation of the deserving so that Hyderabad could be made free from professional
begging and beggars.
The way we come across various reports on
begging brings out the fact that shows that beggars are so used to
begging that they actually prefer not to work.
Announcing the anti-begging campaign on Wednesday , Assistant Commissioner Islamabad Bushra Rao talking to private news channel said, special teams have been constituted to control the
begging practice regularly, adding that strict action will be taken against those who force children and women to adopt the cruel profession.
Anyone found using children for
begging shall face imprisonment of not less than three months and not more than three years.
We must stop these people from
begging and instead help them get some sort of work or job.
