A woman begs on a street in Jeddah earlier this week. (Okaz photo)JEDDAH: Anti-begging authorities have appealed to the public to refrain from giving money to beggars saying their generosity is a “major factor in the proliferation of beggars”. Saad Al-Shahrani, head of Jeddah's Anti-Beggary Office in Jeddah, said his authority is working with the police, security forces and the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to execute orders from Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah, to tackle the problem. “We are carrying out a series of campaigns on the ground to try and address the issue,” he said. “We would ask everyone from all walks of society to hold their sympathy for beggars. Beggars are well practiced in exploiting people's feelings.” Jeddah Police chief Ali Al-Ghamdi expressed similar sentiments. “People sympathizing with beggars is not a good thing and it is directly responsible for the proliferation of the problem,” he said. Naima Al-Aoufi, a psychology professor at Jeddah's King Abdul Aziz Specialist Hospital, says begging is a “growing social concern”. “It stems from the increase in the number of poor and unemployed people,” she said. “It is not a new problem, but what we are seeing is the increased involvement of children to the extent that some sociologists say that beggary has effectively become a profession by which some people earn a living.”
