AMMAN — “Organized begging” is now deemed a human
trafficking crime under a new legislative amendment, published in the Official
Gazette on Sunday.
اضافة اعلان
The amendment to the Prevention of Human Trafficking Law for
2021 classifies “organized begging” as a punishable crime, for which offenders
can face temporary
labor for a period of no less than seven years, and a fine
of no less than JD5,000.
Director of the Anti-Vagrancy Department at the
Social Development Ministry, Maher Kloub, told
Jordan News that the ministry itself
demanded the recognition of organized begging as a punishable crime.
“While we were monitoring the behaviors and actions for
beggars, especially around traffic lights, we noticed some people sitting in
their cars near those beggars,” he said. “Their role is to protect those
beggars from us by informing them of our presence in the area.”
Kloub added that “34 of [the organizers] were able to run
and escape. We could not do anything to them because there were no laws that
criminalize their actions, and beggars, who are often children, were the sole
criminals, according to the old laws.”
“Those beggars are victims,” he said. “Their families throw
them to the streets and lead them to begging. Those who do this need to be
criminalized I believe.”
Asma Khader, President of the Sisterhood is Global institute
(
SIGI), expressed her pleasure over the new amendments in an interview with
Jordan News. She confirmed that this step could limit organized begging
significantly.
“There is a difference between persons practicing begging
because they really need to do that to get money, and persons who do that as a
profession in an organized way by taking advantage of the children and the
disabled,” she said.
“They are exploited and used for the benefit of someone
who may not need the money. This is the real definition of organized begging.”
"Considering this action as a punishable crime in the new laws
should limit it in the near future," she added.
Raed Athamneh, an attorney, told
Jordan News that "the
old law was issued in the 60s, when Jordan's population was extremely small.
The law was not keeping pace with the current situation, where the population
is much bigger, leading to a rise in poverty, which in turn led to a rise in
the number of beggars.”
"Begging turned nowadays into a real profession for a large
number of people as a means for income,” Athamneh said.
"These new laws would limit this phenomenon, and act as a deterrent
to those people," he said.
The law that was published in the Official Gazette yesterday
will be implemented thirty days after its publication.
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