While begging is increasing on the streets and in public spaces in Morocco, especially during the month of Ramadan, the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) is calling for a rethinking of the criminalization of the phenomenon. On Wednesday, the CESE made public the conclusions of a study on the theme: "For a cohesive society, free of begging."
In Morocco, many minors are exploited by professional beggars. These enslaved children sometimes engage in criminal activities.
The level of poverty and vulnerability has not decreased in Morocco. In 2022, it returned to the level recorded in 2014, according to a note from the High Commission for Planning (HCP) published last October. A situation that contributes to the increase in begging in the country.
In Agadir , a beggar with real estate assets, two villas and a well-stocked bank account, was sentenced to six months in prison.
The Moroccan Ministry of the Interior has announced the installation of surveillance cameras in the main cities of the kingdom to fight against begging.
Due to the health crisis, Morocco has temporarily stopped its connections with about forty countries, without thinking about the repatriation of its nationals stranded in these countries. Currently, it is a real misery that these Moroccans outside their country are living.
The court of first instance in Agadir this week sentenced the luxury beggar who was driving a 4x4 vehicle to 6 months in prison.
"For his own good, don’t give him anything". This is the slogan under which the association Jood has been running since March 10, an awareness campaign against the begging to which children are subjected on the streets, markets and arteries of Moroccan cities.
The trial of the fake beggar who recently appeared in a video on board a luxury car in the capital of Souss has once again been postponed. This adjournment, which is the third, is scheduled for March 25.
The association Jood, which helps the homeless, has launched since March 10 an awareness campaign against child begging, which has become the subject of controversy on social networks. Internet users consider it "shocking" and "clumsy". The association, for its part, fully assumes it.
Not far from the ordinary image of beggars, this woman who fell into the nets of the elements of the royal gendarmerie, drives a 4x4, and has made begging a lucrative profession. Sometimes a beggar, sometimes a patron, she managed to juggle the two without worry, until last Friday when her luck ran out in the Taghazoute area, near Agadir , leading to her arrest by the royal gendarmerie.
It was in Ait Aourir, about ten kilometers from Agadir that the beggar with the rich heritage was arrested last Friday. Driving a brand new 4x4, the scammer had been under surveillance for more than a year.