Female juvenile centre to open in Zarqa

AMMAN — The Ministry of Social Development on Sunday announced that it will open a social care centre for females in Zarqa in the coming days to house mainly street beggars.

“We have noticed an increase in female street beggars and other minors who are in need of our protection and social services, so we decided to open a juvenile centre in Zarqa to meet the high demand,” Social Development Ministry Spokesperson Fawaz Ratrout said.

The ministry has detained around 1,000 beggars since the beginning of this year, including nearly 400 females, Ratrout said.

“Our job as a ministry, and in accordance with the juvenile law, is to protect minors and that is why we are opening a new facility,” the ministry official explained.

Currently, there are around 40 female beggars, including 27 repeated offenders, who are detained by ministerial teams, many who “were caught at late night”, he noted.

“Most of these girls are forced by their families to stand in the street at night and beg for money, because their families know that our society is more sympathetic to females in general. This is extremely dangerous for them and their childhood,” Ratrout added.

 According to the ministry official, the centre is expected to open in the next coming days and is designed to receive large numbers of people.

“The building is being furnished and its doors will open in the coming days,” according to Ratrout.

The ministry’s records over the past few years show that nearly 75 per cent of the detained beggars are Jordanian citizens, while non-Jordanian detainees include Syrians and nationals of 12 other countries.

All detained beggars are referred to court where a juvenile judge decides to “either  penalise violators with fines and/or bails that they are usually able to afford”, he added.