AMMAN -- Anti-vagrancy authorities on Sunday said their campaign to clamp down on beggars and peddlers had been successful in netting the majority of professional vagrants running the capital's streets.
Director of the Ministry of Social Development's Anti-Vagrancy Department Khalid Rawashdeh said hundreds of peddlers and beggars had been apprehended, with most professionals now off the streets.
"We've made major progress in this campaign, particularly in stamping out professional vagrancy rings that have long been taking advantage of the public and placing children at risk," Rawashdeh told The Jordan Times.
"These missions caught 49 of the 50 professional vagrants that were wanted by the ministry, while another 100 beggars and peddlers are now in the care of the ministry's 14 institutional centres," he added.
According to the official, the 50 professional vagrants sought by ministry account for half of the vagrancy activities in the country.
Since the beginning of this month, authorities on these missions have picked up a total of 350 beggars and peddlers, 255 of them vagrants and the remaining from broken homes.
Rawashdeh said 210 of them were repeat offenders, while 140 were first time offenders.
The ministry's campaign, undertaken jointly with the Greater Amman Municipality and the Public Security Department, is part of an intensive new government effort to eliminate such activities.
These round-the-clock anti-vagrancy missions focus on children and adolescents who are often forced to beg and peddle and thus need protection, while also clamping down on professionals taking advantage of the public and placing children at risk.
Once authorities detain a beggar or peddler, a profile check is carried out to determine the necessary course of action. This usually entails a visit to the child or adolescent's home.
Children and adolescents identified as coming from broken homes and forced to beg and peddle are referred to child or juvenile centres where they are provided with needed care and protection.
Families identified as destitute and needing financial assistance are referred to the National Aid Fund.
In line with the campaign's new approach, a harsher system of penalties is in force for professional vagrants and repeat offenders.
The penalties can range from JD10,000 to JD300,000 for those who have repeated the offence more than 30 times and a JD50 fee is applied for bail.
Rawashdeh said around 250 beggars and peddlers picked up during the missions, have been referred to courts and administrative authorities, with violations ranging from financial penalties to official pledges not to repeat the offence, or they have been placed in one of ministry's 14 institutions. They include centres for children, juveniles, people with disabilities and the elderly.
The official explained that some children are forced to beg out of actual family hardship, others to purchase personal items such as books or a bicycle, while the majority work for professional vagrants.
"In most cases, that person is someone in the neighbourhood and often has a relationship or knows the family," Rawashdeh said.
"The person employs several children and works them for a daily fee of JD2 and promises them protection from bullies in the area or being caught by the authorities," he added.
But the children are not the only ones being threatened. According to the official, their families are sometimes pressured into silence as they fear retribution from the leaders of the professional rings.
Members of the public have been actively involved in the campaign, entitled "Your Responsibility", calling on the ministry's hotline to report begging and peddling activities they come across.
Rawashdeh said this involvement was integral to the campaign's success.
"The public's cooperation has been unprecedented and very helpful in supporting this campaign," said Rawashdeh.
"We've achieved a lot in such a short period of time and will continue our efforts until begging and peddling activities come to a stop," he added.
By Dalya Dajani
© Jordan Times 2007
