As I arrived home on a Friday noon, I noticed a woman standing next the gate of our house. She was at least 70 years old. Her face was covered and she only showed her eyes. As I approached she wearily looked towards me, then when I was close enough to make eye contact, she immediately went into a submissive posture and crouched onto the floor and began begging. She went into something like a chant of repeating the same sentence over and over again, a sentence which revolved around the word 'faqheer' which means poor in Arabic.
Normally, I would say no to a beggar that was asking for money, I don't believe in encouraging begging specifically when the beggars are children or young capable people, but she was old, and so I was going to help her, but first I wanted to know more about her.
I tried to ask her where she was from, but she didn't even look at me, she just continued to say what she was saying about being 'faqheer', and she didn't speak Arabic or English. So I stopped trying to communicate because I could see it was pointless. There was a psychological wall that this woman put up, this old woman was a professional beggar. I gave her some money, and went inside. But encountering her did occupy my mind for several hours. Where was this woman from? Where is her family? Where does she live? How did she come to be on our streets begging? And mostly, how is it possible for a human being to wake up every morning, and choose this kind of life, a life which strips you of all dignity?
This woman was definitely not a local; she was from a neighbouring country, but not Arab.
Healthy young people
Today, begging and encountering beggars in our society is no longer an isolated happening, there are numerous stories relayed to me from friends and relatives who have encountered beggars while shopping, or in parking lots. And most of these beggars were young healthy people, and often persistent.
In fact, recently a Dubai police official spoke of how beggars who were found begging with crutches, leg casts, or carrying medical records stating that they require surgery were actually lying. Some also claimed they were in need of help to save their 'dying' mothers, upon being arrested. Some beggar gangs actually hire children from their family or neighbours to help them exploit people especially during Ramadan and Eid.
Our local police are taking action by increasing patrols in our city to clamp down on begging. This has helped but it has also raised a new challenge of encouraging beggars to avoid public areas, and to directly go to people's houses. Economic hardship and social deterioration in neighbouring countries feed this phenomenon, but also internally, the ease of access to visit visas through tour operators, travel agents, hotels etc have an impact.
Clamping down on beggars is part of a larger issue, linked to the eradication of poverty and the proliferation of enlightened education systems, because most often when people are facing economic hardships, if they are not equipped with the ethics and the educational tools, they fall into a dark path in life, and begging as a livelihood becomes one of the roads they take. We, as individuals, can also contribute to ridding our society of the begging phenomenon through our daily action. However, first let me say that Islam teaches us to be just and compassionate in this world. I would never suggest that we do not help others who are in need, but if someone is begging and they are young and capable, or their story appears suspicious, we should notify the police, because these types of people, if they have legitimate cases would have approached official charities in the country.
Give money to official charities, they have been set up for these purposes. If you want to help even further, give people food, or offer to take them to the hospital if they really need medical help. But giving money to these beggars only feeds the indignity within them that has led them to continue this type of life. It also encourages illegal entry into our country, and abuse of visit visas, particularly when these people believe that our society is easily exploited.
The writer is a member of the Federal National Council, Deputy CEO Dubai Media Incorporated and General Manager of Dubai One TV.
