AMMAN — Poverty, lack of social services, and the
dwindling quality of education are driving factors to the increase of child
begging in the Kingdom, a human rights association revealed.
اضافة اعلان
A position paper titled "The Phenomenon of
Child Begging
in Jordan", issued by Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human Rights, stated that
high poverty rates, estimated at about 26 percent, and the lack of social
services, led many families to circle their children into begging.
Begging, they said, is used as a means of providing a basic
or secondary source of income.
Increasing povertyOne in five children in Jordan suffers from multidimensional
poverty. And based on the results of poverty indicators in Jordan from
2017–2018 issued by the Department of Statistics, the poverty rate among
Jordanian individuals was 15.7 percent.
Nearly 1.069 million Jordanians live in poverty.
Regarding food poverty, that rate is 0.12 percent, equivalent
to 7,993 individuals, and the poverty gap rate stands at 3.5 percent.
The decline or absence of wages and individuals' weak
purchasing power also play a role in the rise of the phenomenon, said Tamkeen.
Failure to provide a comprehensive social protection umbrella for different segments of society and oversight in terms of providing basic needs and unemployment are met will prompt more families to seek alternative measures to provide for families.
Failure to provide a comprehensive social protection umbrella
for different segments of society and oversight in terms of providing basic
needs and unemployment are met will prompt more families to seek alternative
measures to provide for families, it added.
Education qualityThe poor quality of education exacerbated by the coronavirus
pandemic has also contributed to the increase of
children begging. And
considering begging can generate large sums of cash more easily compared to
jobs or other means, many end up taking it as their route.
Many
child beggars are still registered in school rosters.
However, they resort to attending sporadically or only for final exams, which
exposes them to having to repeat the school year due to failing.
In their position paper, Tamkeen called on the government to
enact a clear definition of organized begging, expand the social protection
umbrella to include more groups, work to provide education in child-begging
custody centers, open additional centers in governorates to accommodate
child beggars who are caught and increase penalties for child beggars and those
overseeing them.
Tamkeen added that the criminalization of organized begging
as a punishable offense under the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act would
reduce the phenomenon.
Many child beggars are still registered in school rosters. However, they resort to attending sporadically or only for final exams, which exposes them to having to repeat the school year due to failing.
With its new penalties, the act would prohibit organizers who
use their children or groups of children and women to engage in
begging in
public places by offering them protection.
A continuous dangerChild beggars are continuously exposed to dangers and
violations during the begging process, Tamkeen reported.
Children are put in the way of physical harm, as they are at
a higher risk of being involved in a car accident due to their presence and
movement at traffic lights, between moving vehicles, and on public streets.
They also risk being beaten up by others to keep them away.
Child beggars face an increased threat as they might also
have to run away from security personnel, restaurant owners, and shops they
enter to solicit money, Tamkeen reported. This exposes them to a higher risk of
falling or otherwise injuring themselves.
Weather conditions are also not so forgiving, as in summer,
they face an increased sunburn or heat stroke risk. And during winter, they are
exposed to other illnesses.
Tamkeen emphasized that forcing children to beg is a form of
human trafficking that should be met with consequences.
Raising awareness among teachers and students to reveal the
seriousness of dropping out of school to engage in begging is another important
approach, they said, alongside providing resources and means to empower
children to file complaints and find protection.
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