Public urged to report begging

AMMAN — As begging has become a “profession” for many, the anti-vagrancy unit at the Ministry of Social Development has urged the public not to give cash to beggars but to charity and care centres.

In 2019, about 5,465 beggars were arrested in the Kingdom, of which, a large number consisted of non-Jordanians. Among them 1,465 were adult males while 1,582 were adult females. A total of 1,639 were male juveniles and 785 were female juveniles, Director of the Anti-Vagrancy Department at the Social Development Ministry Maher Kloub told The Jordan Times.

He also noted that, geographically, the central region came in first with 52 per cent of the total number of arrests made, while the northern region came in second, and the southern region last.

“All adults were referred to court in accordance with the provisions of Article 389 of the Jordanian Penal Code” Kloub added, noting that juveniles were treated according to the Jordanian Juvenile Law No. 32 of 2014 and its amendments, which considers a juvenile to be in need of protection and care.

The Ministry of Social Development has worked to intensify campaigns to combat this phenomenon on the orders of the minister, Kloub further noted.

Social studies of beggars depend on four factors: whether they have a permanent source of income, a car, real estate or business records. Seventy-six per cent of the beggars arrested had one of these, Kloub said.

“Most beggars take beggary as a profession, unfortunately. Nevertheless, there are people who are actually in need due to difficult economic conditions, or family disintegration or a family death, and they are forced to resort to begging sometimes,” Kloub said. Those who are in need are always referred to the National Aid Fund, charities and Zakat funds, he added. 

According to Kloub, selling simple and cheap products at traffic lights and on the streets also qualifies as beggary, though rather indirect. “Beggary is a purely societal phenomenon in the sense that the more beggars are given the more they ask,” according to the official.  

Many beggars actually have criminal records, like selling drugs, drinking alcohol and much more. Giving them money leads to the spread of other bad phenomena in society, Kloub noted. 

“Jordanians are raised in a culture of giving, but they must know where their money goes. People are better off donating to Zakat funds, trusted charities, care centres, or poor families who are actually in need,” Kloub said.

The ministry has the important responsibility to raise the society’s awareness about the dangers of this phenomenon and its negative effects, according to Kloub.

“Before the pandemic, we used to spread awareness through workshops, courses and seminars. Now, due to health precautionary measures, we resort to media, a key partner in this endeavour. For instance, several interviews were conducted and many announcements made by the ministry regarding the issue of begging,” Kloub added. 

The ministry recently launched an awareness raising video in which an actor played a beggar in the street and to no one’s surprise the “beggar” collected a great amount of money in a very short time. 

The video was released to raise awareness of the fact that most people begging on the streets are not in need, Kloub said, urging the public to call the anti-vagrancy unit hotline to report beggars.

Kloub also called for enforcing strict penalties on beggars, in addition to amending the relevant legislation in eliminate the begging phenomenon.