Asia Archives - The Gulf Indians

UAE cracks down on beggars

The Gulf Indians — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 08:47:29 +0000

Our Correspondent

Anyone caught begging in the UAE will be fined AED5,000 and imprisoned for up to three months, the Public Prosecution has announced.

The UAE sees an increase in the number of beggars on the streets during the holy month of Ramadan, when charity and alms giving is foremost in the minds of the faithful. The law authorities are trying to crack down on beggars as begging is a crime in the UAE.

The Public Prosecution published an awareness video on social media highlighting the crimes of begging and organised begging, and punishments that will be given according to the law.

Punishments will be tougher if a beggar is healthy and has a source of income, has faked an injury or permanent impairment or used any other means to deceive people with the aim of obtaining benefits.

Moreover, those operating professional gangs of beggars or recruiting people from outside the country to work as beggars can face imprisonment of over six months and a minimum fine of AED100,000.

Anyone recruiting people from outside the country for organised begging can be punished with the same penalty, and anyone participating in organised begging can be imprisoned for up to three months and will be fined AED5,000.

The Public Prosecution hopes that its Twitter campaign will help to improve the legal culture and raise public awareness, including the importance of not begging during the Holy Month.

Organised gangs have been found to bring in beggars from countries in Asia, including other Arab nations.

Some beggars pretend to be street vendors plying wares, claiming they had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some beg online, to evade police crackdown.

Residents in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman have raised concerns about being accosted by beggars in residential and commercial areas, as well as at mosques.

Several beggars arrested by the Sharjah Police said they were brought into the UAE last November and instructed to ask for alms for six months. They were promised that they would return to their respective countries after gaining a lot of wealth. The gangs provided visas, air tickets and accommodation in lieu of 80 per cent of their daily earnings, the police said.

On the first day of Ramadan this year, the Dubai Police arrested 12 beggars. Over the last three years, the Dubai Police have arrested 842 beggars, who are mostly of Arab origin.

Instead of giving alms, the public have been encouraged to donate to registered charities and non-profit organisations. Residents can also help the police eradicate the illegal practice by reporting beggars.

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South Korea saw more deaths than births in 2020, raises alarm

The Gulf Indians — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 08:57:59 +0000

South Korea recorded more deaths than births in 2020 for the first time ever, causing fresh alarm in the country. The country already has the world’s lowest birth rate.

BBC reports that only 275,800 babies were born last year, down 10% person from 2019. Around 307,764 people died.

This alarming figures prompted the South Korea government to call for major changes to its policies.

A declining population puts immense strain on a country.

Last month, President Moon Jae-in launched several policies aimed at addressing the low birth rate, including cash incentives for families.

Under the scheme, from 2022, every child born will receive a cash bonus of 2 million won ($1,850; £1,350) to help cover prenatal expenses, on top of a monthly payout of 300,000 won handed out until the baby turns one. The incentive will increase to 500,000 won every month from 2025.

A declining youth population and increased cost of living lead to labour shortages that have a direct impact on the economy.

The major reason for South Korea’s falling birth rate is the country’s employment policies are not favourable to women who want to have children. Hence, South Korea’s women struggle to achieve a balance between work and other life demands.

Soaring real estate prices are another major issue which discourage young couple to have children as it increase the expenses.

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Hunger set to soar as COVID-19 obliterates lives, livelihoods: UN

The Gulf Indians — Sat, 18 Jul 2020 06:55:01 +0000

People in 25 countries are set to face devastating levels of hunger in coming months due to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. While the greatest concentration of need is in Africa, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in the Middle East and Asia – including middle-income countries – are also being ravaged by crippling levels of food insecurity, according to the Early Warning Analysis of Acute Food Security Hotspots, compiled by the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, published on July 17.
“Three months ago at the UN Security Council, I told world leaders that we ran the risk of a famine of biblical proportions,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley. “Today, our latest data tell us that, since then, millions of the world’s very poorest families have been forced even closer to the abyss. Livelihoods are being destroyed at an unprecedented rate and now their lives are in imminent danger from starvation. Make no mistake – if we do not act now to end this pandemic of human suffering, many people will die.”
To prevent the worst, WFP is scaling up to provide food assistance to an unprecedented 138 million people who face desperate levels of hunger as the pandemic tightens its grip on some of the most fragile countries on earth.
The cost of WFP’s response to this burgeoning food insecurity is estimated at US$ 4.9 billion, with an additional $500 million being earmarked to prevent the outbreak of famine in countries most at risk.
This represents more than half of the updated COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan, the largest appeal in the UN’s history, launched today, for more than US$ 10 billion. The plan covers wide-ranging humanitarian needs in more than 60 countries, many of them already reeling from the impact of conflict, climate change and economic crisis.
The number of acute food insecure people in these at-risk countries could increase from an estimated 149 million pre-COVID-19 to 270 million before the end of the year if life-saving assistance is not provided urgently. Recent estimates also suggest that up to 6,000 children could die every day from preventable causes over the next six months as a result of pandemic-related disruptions to essential health and nutrition services.

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