Women ‘beggars’ on prowl

With less than a month to go for Ramadan, women posing as beggars have devised a new trick to cheat unsuspecting people. Most of these women operate mainly in Dubai and Sharjah and apparently belong to Arab countries.
By narrating tragic tales, a large number of them target people, especially those who’ve just drawn money from banks or ATMs. However, some others are still sticking to their old ways by knocking at the doors of residents and narrating pathetic stories in order to gain sympathy of the housewives with the aim of getting some cash out of them.
Officials say that a large number of beggars had entered the country on visit visas to take advantage of Ramadan. He also said that beggars who were taken into custody during last Ramadan, have admitted to the police that they were brought in by tour operators based in Dubai and Sharjah who ‘hired’ them for begging.

Narrating one of the encounters, Abdullah Akhider said that when he had just withdrawn money from the bank in Bank Street in Sharjah, a woman in a black ‘abaya’ approached him. “When she said ‘excuse me’, I thought she wanted to ask directions or some procedures in the bank. I never could imagine that she was a beggar,” said Akhider.

Shoppers not spared
She claimed she was a widow and her little son was admitted to a hospital and she had no money to buy medicines or feed other children, he added.

Nowadays, a number of women beggars are also seen targeting shoppers and shopkeepers in areas like Clock Tower and Al Wahda streets in Sharjah.

Mohamed Al Yamani, owner of a textile shop in Clock Tower said, “No one can make out that they are beggars. They are nicely groomed and when approaching they pretend as if they are costumers.”

Umm Amer, resident of the Clock Tower area, said some women knock people’s doors. “Once when my doorbell rang, I opened the door and saw an Arab woman in an ‘abaya’. She started telling me a sad story and asked for money in order to solve her problems. These women knock my doors almost daily and I have decided not to open the door for them any more.”

Penalty for offenders
Speaking to Khaleej Times, a top official of Sharjah Police said that following directives of Brigadier Saleh Ali Al Mutawa, Director-General of Sharjah Police, days before the holy month of Ramadan police have intensified the campaign to target beggars.

Beggars who hail from various Arab and Asian countries will be facing penalties ranging from imprisonment to deportation. “If there are nationals among them, they will have to sign a declaration saying that they will not resort to beggary again,” he added.

Mohammed Khalifah, a government employee in Dubai, said most people, especially men, feel shy and cannot be harsh with women beggars who are expert in telling tragic stories to gain public sympathy. He added that the women prefer begging in residential buildings to avoid being caught by police.

Ayman Ahmed, an Emirati woman working in a bank, said that a number of women wearing ‘abayas’ and covering their face could be sighted around shopping centres and gold souqs, public parks and gardens, hospitals, car parks, work places, wedding halls, ladies’ saloons.

Not UAE nationals
“They claim to be UAE nationals, but they are not. Such an act on the part of expatriate women harms the image of national women,” she commented.

Ayman said, “Recently, I spotted a number of women beggars near banks standing by ATM machines. One of them even scared me. She held my hand very tightly while she was begging. I wonder if it was a man hiding in women clothes.”

Ayman suggested security officials and women detectives should be deployed in areas to crack down on women beggars. Source