Zarqa Social Development Department continues anti-begging campaigns

AMMAN — A crafty beggar was apprehended on Friday by teams from the Zarqa Social Development Department, while sitting in a wheelchair and displaying his amputated leg in one of Zarqa's mosques, managing to collect over JD200 after Friday prayers

Jawad Abul Ghanam, head of Zarqa Social Development Department, said that the repeat offender had been caught more than once, noting that he receives a civil pension, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The daily field campaigns carried out by the committees in charge of combating this phenomenon have also led to the arrest of six other beggars, all of them were repeat offenders, the official added.

He pointed out that the department in 2023 arrested more than 300 beggars, mostly men and juveniles, in addition to non-Jordanian women who tend to station around traffic lights.

Administrative measures are taken against repeat beggars, including referral to the administrative governorate for adults and to the Zarqa Centre for the Care of Minors for juveniles, Abul Ghanam said, stressing that the department's anti-vagrancy campaigns are ongoing.

Urging citizens to prioritise reason over emotion and not to be deceived by beggars' tricks, he said that a social study is conducted to understand the arrested beggars’ social conditions. The directorate's ongoing campaigns aim to address this issue.

He also called on citizens to report any cases of vagrancy so that these beggars can be apprehended and their contact details provided through the Ministry of Social Development’s website or e-mail so that appropriate action can be taken against them.