Beggars making money off the IDP crisis

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Beggary thrives in markets of Mardan, Swabi and Peshawar
* Majority of beggars are women and children

By Akhtar Amin

PESHAWAR: Beggars, mostly women and children, in the main towns and bazaars of Mardan, Swabi and Peshawar are posing themselves as the internally displaced persons (IDPs) to mint money.

They could be seen stopping people here and there and spinning them the tale of their woes and misfortunes. In majority cases, people fall for their stories and put a handful of nickels and dimes on their palms. Businessmen and shopkeepers in Mardan city told Daily Times that majority of professional beggars were befooling the people by posing themselves as IDPs and were in this way making oodles of money at the cost of their displaced brethren.

“About 12 to 15 beggars daily visit us for money showing themselves as IDPs lodging at Sheikh Yaseen Camp,” Ali Khan Hoti, a Mardan bazaar businessman, said. Hoti said that when he questioned them about their identity they left the shop immediately for fear of being exposed. He said beggary had become a public nuisance and the government seemed helpless to eliminate it despite the fact that all the major cities of the province had rehabilitation centers for male, female and child beggars.

Iftikhar Ali, a Mardan city businessman, said that the displacement of millions of people from the militancy-hit areas of the province had provided the beggars, especially women and children, with an opportunity to grab money from the people in the garb of IDPs. Majority of the beggars are from Mardan, Swabi and Charsadda districts. Some Afghan refugees, who lost their limbs in the US attacks on Afghanistan in the post 9/11 attacks, could also been begging on the city streets.

Gulwara, a 10-year-old Afghan girl begging in Mardan city, said that her mother and two brothers also begged in the city. “My mother asks me to beg in the name of IDPs, as people have been very kind to the IDPs.” In Peshawar, beggars could be seen seeking alms in the main markets of Cantonment, Saddar Bazaar, Khyber Bazaar, Kabuli Bazaar, Karkhano Bazaar, Haji Camp Adda, University Town, Hayatabad and government hospitals and mosques in the name of IDPs.

A police official said that some beggars were involved in crimes like drug pushing and theft while some women beggars were involved in prostitution. A city district government official told Daily Times that the provincial government had set up Darul Kafala (rehabilitation centers) for boarding and education of child beggars but the police and courts were not cooperating with them to eliminate this obnoxious practice. He said influential people got professional beggars released from rehabilitation centers or from courts on bail.

Currently, majority of the beggars in the city are females but there are no female beggars at any rehabilitation center. Sources in Darul Kafala set up for female beggars at the Women Crises Center, told Daily Times that the center lacked resources to crack down on the beggars and rehabilitate them.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg7_16