Dubai Police arrest 102 beggars in Ramadan

As many as 102 beggars of various nationalities have been arrested in the “combating begging” campaign, confirmed Col. Ali Salem, Director of the Infiltrators Department at the General Department of Criminal Investigations of Dubai Police on Wednesday.

This campaign has been launched by the Dubai Police since the beginning of this Ramadan in cooperation with the partners.

The police have urged the public to report beggars who take advantage of the blessed month of Ramadan to draw sympathy and beg money from passersby, especially under the current circumstances.

Col. Ali Salem said, “The CID has set an integrated security plan to combat begging in cooperation with partners, and to intensify patrols in places, which are targeted by beggars.”

He also indicated that begging is associated with negative acts that pose risks to the community security and property. In addition, it defames the image of the state and its cultural appearance, as a result of the risks associated with begging, such as committing crimes of theft and child abuse, apart from exploiting patients and people with disabilities in begging, to make unlawful gains, he added.

Col. Ali Salem called for not responding to beggars, or dealing with them, and to alert the police by reporting any beggars monitored anywhere on (901) or the “Police Eye” service on the smart applications of Dubai Police.

Furthermore, he warned the community members to be cautious of the sympathy messages that beggars send through social media and e-mail containing fabricated stories.

“Those emails or messages should be ignored and not be believed. They must be reported via the “e-crime” platform concerned with cybercrimes in a smooth and easy way through www.ecrime.ae.”