Dubai Police campaign to curb begging
By Rizwan Khatik - Sat Jul 28, 8:38 am
Dubai: A campaign to curb the beggar menace will kick off at the end of this month.
Based on studies of past cases, the campaign will focus on tourist companies assisting in bringing beggars into the country.
The campaign ‘Combat street beggars’ kicks off on July 25 and will continue to the end of the Eid Al Fitr vacation as mendicants increase on religious occasions and public holidays such as during Eid.
“We have realised that groups and individual beggars were issued visas with the assistance of specific tourism companies. Our focus is not only on combating street begging but those who assist these individuals,” Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Al Muhairi, Director of Tourist Security at Dubai Police, told Gulf News.
According to him, there were 1,232 street beggars in 2006. The numbers fell to 987 in 2007 and 578 in 2008. However, beggar numbers rose to 618 last year.
“Street begging occurs everywhere and in Dubai we take the matter seriously as it ruins the reputation of the country and it affects the security of the place. The presence of beggars in mosques and shopping malls or any other public areas in not a pleasant image for the country,” said Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Chief of Dubai Police.
