Many people who seek alms on the streets have resorted to begging as a means of making money without turning to crime. While this may seem a daily way of life to over 35,000 beggars, it is irking police and officials at the Ministry of Social Affairs who are trying to remove this menace from the streets of Saudi Arabia. Last year alone, the Ministry of Social Affairs reported in a new statistics that about 35,160 beggars were nabbed in 2007 by the 12 anti-begging offices all over the Kingdom compared to 29,988 in 2006. According to the report, the number of Saudis accounted for 4,952 beggars while the number of non-Saudis reached 30,008 in 2007. At almost any time of the day or night, African, Asian and Arab beggars are approaching cars at traffic lights. Some are hideously deformed, some are disheveled and dirty, and some are healthy. But almost all are successful. Based on interviews with many people either begging, selling chewing gums or knick-knacks in Dammam and Al-Khobar, there seems to be a high degree of overlap between the causes of begging. Almost all had the need for money, some were greedy to make more and some needed to add to the greed of men they worked for. For instance, Omer (name changed) had to hand over a fixed amount of money to his (supposed) employer and it was this need of his that made him stretch his hands out for charity. However, what Saudi Gazette found out was that the need to survive and greed for easy money were the main reasons for people taking to begging. Many beggars find begging a degrading experience that exposed them to harassment and violence as well as acts of kindness from the public. They usually begged until they generated the sum they needed. There was no attempt to maximize income because it was such an unpleasant activity. However, for many the humiliation of asking others for grant did not matter, they did it out of habit and as a way of life. For those who are driven by greed, there is no stopping the shrewdness and business acumen that they apply in order to mint as much money as they can by simply asking for it with an air of helplessness and vulnerability. “Remember, many of them are multi-millionaires,” laughs Ibrahim who thinks that there is more to begging than the need for money. Another disturbing fact is that many of these beggars are into drugs and begging only gets them caught in the cycle. An official at the Ministry of Social Affairs said, “Almost everyone on the streets have experienced severe trauma during their lives.” Drug and alcohol problems are commonly linked to begging and played a central part in the circumstances that had led to homelessness and reasons for begging. Over half of those currently begging and caught by the anti-begging squads reported alcohol problems, many were drug abusers. For several, their substance misuse had become worse as a result of life on the streets. A sympathetic person who usually hands out whatever change he has to women and children begging on the streets says, “Almost all the people dislike begging, and aspired to a ‘normal' life. However, to achieve that they would not only need access to accommodation and work opportunities, but also to help in overcoming drug and alcohol problems, social isolation and poor mental and physical health.” A decision to start begging was often linked to a wish to stay out of trouble with the law. The authorities, for their part – Ministry of Social Affairs and the police – are doing what they can to take these beggars to shelters and listening to their stories, trying to trace their families and helping them. Nabbed expatriate beggars are deported while a Saudi beggar is handed over to the offices for combating begging. Sociologists then study the detainee's case to know his reasons for begging. If the study shows that the person is needy, he is transferred to charities or to the General Organization for Social Insurance. If the Saudi beggar is disabled and nobody is there to take care of him, he is transferred to a social care home. The official said, “We try to extend all help possible by trying to rehabilitate them in order to get their lives back on track. We do find that many go back to begging even after this.” This growing phenomenon of the beggars who seem to go about in a cycle of getting caught and then again begging seems to be a deterrent to the efforts of government agencies in putting a stop to the menace of begging. Many blame it on the Muslim fondness for charity, which is making it hard to tackle the problem. “I always hand out change when beggars knock on my car's window. I feel I should help the children and women in distress,” said one Indian man. It is this fondness for charity that is fast becoming a tool for the greedy men who can earn up to an equivalent of $500 a week. Oil-rich Saudis are profusely generous people, and the Kingdom has gained an international reputation as an easy place in which to earn a living. Thousands of children are trafficked from Yemen, many badly deformed to pass as handicapped in order to make money through begging. But who are those in real need of money and those who do it as a means of living, although they can take up other more honorable means of living? “It is hard to differentiate between the two”, says Khatija, who hands out money to beggars who she feels are deprived of the comforts and facilities she enjoys and so feels obligated to help in whatever way she can. Another question that pops up is that many of these beggars, except for the Saudis, are staying in the Kingdom illegally without a valid Iqama, many on expired Umrah and Haj visas. If they do a very unlikely prospect, give up begging to take up other means of making money, they run the risk of getting caught by authorities and getting deported back to their respective countries. Many people feel that more should be done to make a difference in the lives of these homeless people and those using begging to get rich should be handed out strict retribution. Khaled feels that “There should be concerted effort to meet the needs of people who are at the sharpest end of homelessness and other social problems which will make a significant difference. Each individual needs a tailored ‘resettlement' package that meets their particular needs for accommodation, support, social contact and constructive activities. But that can only be achieved through effective policy co-ordination at both national and local level, and if necessary resources are made available to them.” However, no one single initiative can be expected to provide a solution for everyone who begs. __
