Dubai beggar makes $73,500 a month

Dubai beggar makes $73,500 a month

Wednesday, April 13, 2016 4:49 am


Dubai beggars: they may be richer than you the giver

Dubai beggars: they may be richer than you the giver

Begging is surely big business. And it has proven to be so in Dubai, where a recently arrested beggar was found making as much as 270,000 dirham (around 73,500 U.S. dollars) a month.

The beggar was among dozens arrested by Dubai Municipality inspectors, local media reported.

Fifty nine  beggars were caught during the first three months of 2016, said Faisal Al Badiawi, head of the markets section at the Dubai Municipality, in a statement.

Those arrests were part of a campaign carried out by the municipality in cooperation with the emirate’s police to combat begging in Dubai.

“Some of the beggars had passports issued with business or tourist visas,” Al Badiawi told reporters.

“During the campaign, we found that the majority of beggars had entered the country legally with a three-month visa, in order to collect as much money as they could during their time here,” Al Badiawi explained.

The seizures showed that one beggar was making about 73,500 dollars per month. “More money was collected on Fridays when beggars stood in front of mosques,” Al Badiawi said.

Local authorities of Dubai have been carrying out year-long operations to combat begging along the city streets.

In 2015, up to 197 begging-related arrests were made during an anti-begging campaign around Ramadan, according to a previous report of Gulf News. Police said street begging affects the city’s security.


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