JEDDAH: Beggars here are finding new ways to make money by exploiting the kindness of the public. There has been a noticeable increase in the numbers of beggars after Haj. Many can be seen hanging around restaurants, shopping malls and mosques. Last week, for example, four Arab women beggars were spotted by Saudi Gazette reporters at a local shopping mall in Al-Sulaimania district trying to get money from the public. Each had her own shopping bag to fool security guards. Each woman appeared to be working a particular section of the mall. Later, all of them could be seen gathering at the main entrance to share their income. Ali Yousef, a Saudi resident, said that while he was shopping at the supermarket next to his home, he saw an Arab lady who had two black purses. “One of the purses contained many kinds of medicines and pills used to fool people. The other one had lots of money,” he said. When people confronted her, she ran away, said Yousef. “I was shocked when I saw the lady running away to escape from the people. She appeared to hide some of the money in her Abaya,” said Yousef. He said that these people do not deserve the money that people give them. There are also some people who use their children to beg for money. They do this by getting the youngsters to “sell” gum or kitchen towels near traffic lights. Khalida Anwar, a nine-year-old Afghani girl was found selling kitchen towels in Al-Musadiah district. She said that her elder brother brings her there every day at 6 P.M. and takes her back at 1 A.M. She works with her niece Maryam. “It's a good business. The most I ever got here in one day was SR230 the minimum was SR30,” Khalida said.” My family buys nine towels for SR6 and they ask me to sell them for SR10,” she said. Khalida said her five-member family came for Umrah seven years ago from their hometown in Kabul and stayed on. She said her father was paralyzed after being hit by a car and now she has to work. He elder brother has also lost his job. “My father asks me to offer the packets of chewing gum to people using a very emotional tone and repeating, ‘may Allah help you marry four women',” Maryam said. “I don't know exactly what that means. Do you know what that means?” she asked the reporters. “I have to work because we are very poor and we came for Umrah to escape from the war in Afghanistan,” said Khalida. The family also has fake Iqamas which they use to travel to Makkah to visit relatives. While talking, Khalida kept hitting Maryam. “I'm hitting her because her mother never taught her to respect her elders,” she said.
