Saudi Gazette report ABHA — The recent incident in which two Asir youths contracted the HIV virus after they had illicit sexual relations with female beggars of an Arab nationality has exposed the negligence of the Anti-Beggary Committee to clamp down on beggars in the country, Al-Watan daily reported. A member of the committee, who requested anonymity, confirmed that the committee has a narrow vision of its functions in combating begging. “It (the committee) has not realized that there are security and health implications of having beggars on the streets,” he said. Regarding the phenomenon of Arab female beggars in Abha and the nearby governorates, the committee member said the number of female beggars has increased considerably over the past two years, especially on Abha's Al-Mata'em St., the downtown district of Al-Tabajiyah and near public parks. “Some government administrations have notified the authorities concerned that the problem lies in difficulties in arresting these women and the absence of a country that would accept them when they are deported. These women are from a country riven by conflict,” he said. “The administrations have stressed the need for creating an official shelter for these women in the region and beyond.” According to the spokesman of the region's police, Abdullah Al-Shathan, security authorities are continuing to monitor female beggars with the support of several agencies, including the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Haia). Al-Shathan did not give any figures on the number of female beggars who have been arrested so far. Local resident Bandar Abdullah Al-Mufrih said he has noticed an astonishing increase in the number of female beggars on his daily commute to work. “They roam the streets and their numbers seem to be increasing near malls and private hospitals. Some of them do not focus on begging, but they hunt for youths and teenagers,” he said in a veiled reference to claims the women are using begging as a front for prostitution. Medical sources said the discovery of the two HIV positive cases came to light because the two youths approached authorities and it is likely that there are others who have been exposed to the disease but have not been tested. Last week, after Al-Watan published the report on the two young men who contracted the virus after having sex with women begging in the streets, the Directorate of Health Affairs in the region reported the matter to the governorate. Directives were issued to security authorities to search for the two female beggars and arrest them to prevent them from transmitting the virus to other people.
