Beggars assault anti-vagrancy team

AMMAN — The Ministry of Social Development said on Saturday it will deal firmly with assaults on its anti-vagrancy teams, after registering the third assault since the beginning of the year.

The ministry’s spokesperson, Fawaz Ratrout, said an anti-vagrancy team was targeted by a group of beggars on Thursday night, and “they threw rocks at them” in the Bayader area in Amman.

“This is the third incident since the beginning of the year,” and the first during Ramadan, he said, noting that the ministry has intensified its campaigns since the beginning of the fasting month.

“Regardless of the hardships they face while practising their job, the campaign teams will continue working as planned,” Ratrout told The Jordan Times over the phone.

Last week, 113 beggars were apprehended by authorities in Amman according to Ratrout, who said the phenomenon increases during Ramadan.

The official also reiterated his call on the public not to sympathise with beggars, noting that giving them money encourages them to continue to beg on the streets, even after being apprehended and released.

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

Of the total adult beggars apprehended last year, 85 per cent were Jordanians and 58.7 per cent were women, according to the ministry’s figures.

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