Al-Yaum newspaper

How many of you have seen beggars on our streets, inside malls or near pharmacies? I am sure many of you are used to seeing beggars whether you are in Riyadh, Makkah, Dammam or any other Saudi city. Beggars use different methods to elicit money from people and to make people sympathize with them. You will notice that female beggars who stand near malls always wear neat clothes while other beggars, male and female, who stand next to gas stations, are dressed in shabby attire.

Children seen on streets near traffic lights usually carry chewing gum or tissues and pretend to be street vendors. This is a method of making drivers and passersby sympathize with them and give them money. One cannot help but wonder why these innocent children are begging on the streets while their peers are in school. Why aren’t they in school and why do their parents let them beg?

I am sure that well-organized gangs have sent these children out to collect money. Nobody knows where that money goes and who the beneficiaries are? The authorities have warned the public many times against giving money to beggars. However, most people sympathize with them and put this sympathy before the greater interests of our country. We should all realize that the majority of beggars do not need the money that we give them.

We should all stop giving money to them because that is the only way to save children from begging. If we do not give them money, then the gangs who run them will realize that there is little point in sending children out to beg. It is a shame and disgrace to see little children, boys and girls, begging on streets when they should be in school.

Let us all act responsibly and save children who are on the street. Please do not give them money. Any money you give them will end up in the pockets of the gang members who are behind them.