‘1,622 beggars detained since beginning of 2014’

AMMAN — The Social Development Ministry’s anti-vagrancy department has detained 1,622 beggars across the Kingdom since the beginning of the year and until this week, a ministry official said on Thursday.

Of those detained, 1,277 are adults, with 722 women and 555 men, while the rest are teenage boys and girls, according to Fawaz Ratrout, the ministry’s spokesperson.

The ministry said 8 per cent of the detained beggars are non-Jordanians without elaborating on their nationality.

A total of 232 beggars have been apprehended since the beginning of Ramadan in Amman alone.

Approximately 1,323 beggars were apprehended during the first two weeks of Ramadan, 129 of whom (10 per cent) are Syrians.

Of the total, 566 are females, and 300 are children.

Adult beggars detained by authorities are referred to police stations and then to court in accordance with the Penal Code, while juveniles are referred to care centres affiliated with the ministry, where they are rehabilitated.

In 2013, the ministry referred 1,399 beggars to court, and 1,121 to governors, and sent 450 who under the age of 18 to care centres.

The authorities detain around 1,500 beggars annually, according to official figures.