Did You Know: Begging in Qatar is a crime
Begging in Qatar has reduced significantly, thanks to the anti-beggary law established by the authorities in 2004.
The law prescribes harsh punishments for this behavior under the name of begging, where the Qatari Penal Code No. 11/2004 indicates that “the person shall be punished by imprisonment term not exceeding three months who will beg in the streets or public places or will lead anyone to beg, or encourage him in that, and the judge, instead of handing imprisonment may sentence to hand over the beggar to reform institutions instituted for that, and in all cases, with prescribed sentence he will be judged with the confiscation of seized money obtained from this crime.”
Long-time residents of Qatar can affirm that begging was a common sight, especially in mosques after Friday prayers and during the month of Ramadan.
In the light of a recent arrest of a lady caught for begging and in possession of more than QR 50,000 and cell phone, it is important that the Qatar community is aware of this issue.
Many a time, residents have been duped into giving money to beggars who narrate tall tales of how they have been stranded, husband or wife and even children being seriously ill, and of how they ran out of fuel needed to travel back to a neighbouring country where they live.
This does not neccesarily mean everyone seeking help are fake. At the end of the day, your decision to help them or not comes down to your judgement.
The law has deterred people from resorting to this sort of practice. The State of Qatar has established a number of associations and charities which collect Zakat and charity, so those who wish to donate should approach these institutions, which do not spare any effort to give these funds to those who deserve that.
The CID has assigned telephone numbers 44823455, 44714222, 44714220 that residents can call to report a case of begging in their area.
Helping the needy is a righteous deed, but one should always be careful not to be deceived by what you see.
These days it became so hard to differentiate people who are in need .. and people who take advantage of other people's kindness.... those professional beggers screw up the scene for people who are really in need. I feel terrible each time arguing with myself trying to decide... i gave money before.. and a few times was disappointed when they asked for more... I mean I 50 or even 100 QAR and the begger would turn around and tell me he needs more for some cause... i am disappointed.. having said that there are genuine people in need... usually those are the ones who dont even ask for help.. most of them are hardworking people.
@landloverreview, well noticed.
in many criminal post, QL admin keeps Pakistani dress photos, irrespective of the matter. A clear indication of biased management.
Regarding begging, indeed many beggars pose themselves from war hit Syria.
Why do you have a picture of a person associated to the topic. It is quite offensive, please have it removed.
This is not acceptable, posting articles should not target any nationals in the negative sense.
box: i at least respect the perfume sellers for trying to earn it..however, it is very awkward when they choose fast food drive thrus/ restaurants etc to sell their stuff..it makes one feel guilty to be ordering a hearty meal when there's a needy person hanging around, claiming he hasn't eaten all day..it doesn however also make one feel very grateful for their blessings in life. Plus minus I guess :-)
I thought he was stealing shoes :p
To talk about begging, I really don't understand why did YOU* choose the picture of a common man who seems to be a pakistani national entering a mosque for his prayer.
To talk about begging, I really don't understand why did not choose the picture of a common man who seems to be a pakistani national entering a mosque for his prayer.
begging has increased...i see daily of them selling perfurmes
I was just reading todays newspaper (alwatan) and on the first page there is an article about an arabic lady begger who was caught with Qar. 51,000
It's the richest country in the world. There are no real beggars here.
have seen many near FFC and near Pizza hut car park at Airport road...have last time given the guy some money cos he was telling he was deported within a week and need money urgently and when i visited the same place after 2 months he is right in front of me begging... I smiled at him and asked him you got a new visa and came back to Qatar for begging ? :)
Yeah i know about this, you will see a lot of them in bank street (Grand Hamad Street) i met a lot of them who cry in front of you, tell you they will be deported soon and beg you for money. A week or two later he will come back and beg for more money ..
some of them use the money for drugs and alchohol