DUBAI: Beggars in Dubai are going electronic, with most of them resorting to mobile messaging app WhatsApp to spread word of their ‘suffering and need’.
According to Khaleej Times, Dubai police caught 13 children begging last year.
The Dubai Police will launch a campaign in Ramadan to end the practice “once and for all”. A senior police official said those caught begging will be jailed for a month and deported. The police will also seize the money they make from begging.
Colonel Mohammed Rashid Abdullah Al Muhairi, Director of Tourist Police, said during a Press conference that “many people” come to Dubai to beg.
Since the beginning of this year, the police have arrested 180 beggars — 141 men and 39 women. Most of them were found outside commercial establishments and mosques, and residential areas like Al Mamzar and Jumeirah.
Col Al Shamsi said the General Department of Criminal Investigation receives leads from the public about beggars on its hotline 800-243.
He said the genuinely needy will be assisted by the police in coordination with the Dubai Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department (IACAD).
