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231 beggars arrested in Abu Dhabi in two weeks

The operations room received calls from some residents about the presence of beggars in their neighbourhood that resulted in the arrests.

Abu Dhabi Police have arrested 231 beggars in the first two weeks of Ramadan.

Major-General Mohammed bin Al Awadi Al Minhali, Director-General, Operations at Abu Dhabi Police general headquarters, said the crackdown was planned to curb begging during the holy month. The campaign will continue throughout Ramadan.

He said the people arrested are from different Asian countries. They were nabbed from around mosques during prayer time and other public places.

Every year during Ramadan, beggars are seen all over Abu Dhabi, mainly around mosques just before prayers end and other public places. They have also been reported going from door to door. Over 90 per cent of them are on visit visas arranged by illegal agents, who make all arrangements, including their air fare and month-long accommodation, on a commission basis. After Ramadan, they take their cut of the money collected by the beggars.

The majority of the beggars are middle-aged women pretending to be widows with several children and with no income to support them. The soft-hearted people they manage to cadge money from are also mainly women.

The operations room received calls from some residents about the presence of beggars in their neighbourhood that resulted in the arrests.

Colonel Dr Rashid Mohammad Bu Rasheed, acting Director of Metropolitan Police, said several detective teams have been formed to keep an eye on these beggars and round them up.

The official warned that many of these beggars have previously been proved to be thieves.

“They visit apartments to study how and when to break in. They check the presence of tenants, their numbers and the time when no one is in the apartment to plan burglaries. They are all trained for this job.”

He advised residents not to open their apartment doors to strangers. If they felt suspicious about a visitor, they should immediately call the watchman and police for assistance and safety.

You can contact the police if you suspect thieves are knocking on your apartment door at 999 or the toll-free number 8002-626. You can also text messages to 2828 to report related incidents.

nissar@khaleejtimes.com