For
Some, Ramadan Is the Season of Begging
By Shadiah Abdullah, Arab News
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Ramadan is the month of giving and nobody knows this more
than beggars who prey on the faithful during this time of
year.
For
the beggars the holy month is a golden opportunity to ply
their trade and con people with sob stories.
However,
the police are on to the tricks of these people and have launched
campaigns to arrest them.
A
few years ago the local media reported a story that police
arrested a haggard-looking beggar and were surprised to find
AED200,000 ($54,457) in his possession. The man was preying
on people’s sympathy by telling them that he had no
money to buy food.
Brig.
Khamis Mattar Al-Mazeina, director of Dubai Police’s
Criminal Investigation Department (CID), said that his team
will be on the lookout and will arrest any individual found
begging. During the past month alone at least 82 beggars were
arrested during a sweep.
He
urged the public to report such people saying that many of
the beggars that roam Dubai are “professional pan-handlers”.
Describing
the vagrants as “pests” who prey on the sympathetic
feelings of their unsuspecting victims, Al-Muzeina said that
most of them come to the UAE on visit visas.
He
questioned where these people got the money for hotels, visas
and air tickets if they were so destitute.
“Do
not believe the stories you hear from them, they are all lies,”
he said. “The heart-breaking stories are all aimed at
pulling at your heart and purse strings.”
According
to Al-Muzeina, the modus operandi of the beggars is varied.
The most popular one is carrying certificates from nonexistent
hospitals stating the urgency of their health situation or
of their kin.
Some
even go around with documents claiming that they represent
charities from their home countries.
Another
tactic is to pull up at a petrol pump or any shopping mall
parking lot and latching on to a victim. They will then tell
the victim that they are from a neighboring country came here
for a visit but had the misfortune of losing all their money.
With
the police hot on their heels many of them are clever at camouflaging
themselves. They do not dress in shabby clothes for fear of
being spotted and arrested.
These
people are also careful as to whom they approach and focus
mainly on women who usually fall for the “sob stories”
and give generously, said Al-Muzeina.
He
advised those who want to help the poor to donate their money
to recognized charity organizations.
These
organizations will make sure that their money reaches those
who are really in need and not these phony people who are
too lazy to earn their money in an honest way, he said, adding
that many of these beggars’ incomes are much more than
what a normal person earns in a month. |