Between November and March 2022, the UAE’s police forces apprehended several beggars in various emirates. Across the UAE, the police are stepping up patrols to crack down on beggars before and during the holy month of Ramadan.
According to the police, numerous people and organisations have been discovered accumulating significant sums of money using Begin. Residents were instructed by officials not to give money to beggars and to only donate to recognised charities.
The police have frequently reminded the populace that begging is a crime that is punishable by law long before the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. The neighbourhood has also been cautioned by the police to avoid interacting with beggars.
AED 5,000 in fines and up to three months in jail are the consequences for anyone caught begging in the United Arab Emirates, according to Federal Law No. 9 of 2018 on Anti-Begging (100 KB PDF in Arabic). Operating professional gangs of beggars or hiring individuals from outside the nation to act as beggars carries a minimum fine of AED 100,000 and a jail sentence of at least six months.
