For a number of months there have been a changing beggar problem in Paris.

1) While homeless magazine sales people have long been on the street the current
group is nearly all non-French, a lot of young people from East Europe, Romania
seems to be favored.

They often are circulating on the major streets and ask for money, not really
interested in selling a magazine.

A fairly high percentage of the Post Offices will have one of them posted by the door
trying to open it for you and secure a donation.

2) Women, often young, and often with babies or young children sitting on the streets
asking for money. They are often dressed like peasants. They have a particular
whinny approach in trying to get money from you. Many children are lent out for
the day, so that pathetic looking young woman could be with a borrowed baby. This
use of children is illegal and the police are operating to suppress this use.

3) A current wave of cripples have arrived from eastern Europe, ran by mafia like
gangs, who will ask for money from automobilists at stop lights.

4) Young pickpockets, working in groups of 2-3 can be encountered in the train
stations and on the metro. One of them will attempt to distract you while the
others seek you back pack, purse or pocket.

The police constantly work on surpressing these groups. It is not a crime to beg in
Paris. Pickpocking is, of course, a crime and the use of kids to do it has been
encountered over the years, repeatively repressed but springing up again now and
then. The exploitation of the handicapped by mafia like gangs is illegal, so that
will be closed down by attacking the organizers. The press and TV has been
sympathetic about the handicapped but not their exploiters. The story is that they
get beaten up if they don`t make their begging quota. They might collect 30 euros a
day but only are given 1-2 to eat on.

5) Two main type of prostitutes are operating in Paris, largely at the edge or on the
right bank. The left bank is free of them. The east European prostitutes are
exploited by mafia like organizations from East Europe. The African prostitutes
apparently are not subject to the same control by the thug element.

6) Some scams have been operating. The use of false police identities has occurred in
scams to take euros from tourists, saying they are counterfit. I have only been
asked for my identity card once in 25 years of living in Paris, and then it was
just to find out who I was. A serious problem would be handled at the
commissariat, not on the street. Tourists are extremely unlikely to have an
encounter with an agent of the police. The scams are so rare that I know of nobody
who has ever been caught up in one.

7) As a side news item, there has been a rash of jewelry store robberies in recent
months. Gunplay is rare, the attacks occur with sledgehammers etc, in and out in
1-2 minutes and escaping on motorcycles. Based on past history, the authorities
will have repressed this kind of robbery by the end of the year but there will
continue to be a run on them for a while. I don`t think this kind of robbery will
involve a danger to tourists. They are newsworthy but I have never seen one occur.

Earl

Earl

Earl Evleth wrote:
    >
    > 3) A current wave of cripples have arrived from eastern Europe, ran by mafia like
    > gangs, who will ask for money from automobilists at stop lights.

Will the "Cour des Miracles" return?

To explain:

In olden days some crippled beggars would return each night to their lodging in a
"Cour des Miracles", where they were miraculously cured until the next morning. The
next morning they were cripples again, going out for a day of begging.

One did what was necessary to keep eating.

    > For a number of months there have been a changing beggar problem in Paris.

That's exactly the same in Lisbon!

It seems they are romanian gipsies, and they were leaving in Spain, but they were
forced to leave. Some of them came to Lisbon, others to Paris. As fas as I know, they
never harm you, but they are very persistent tryng to get your money.

Men don't beg. They stay near the vans where they sleep talking all day.Women and
boys are in the streets begging, usually near traffic ligths. At lunch time,
sometimes they go to places like McDonalds, or Pizza Hut and buy take-away food for
all the family.

Regards

mig

"Mig" <[email protected]> escribió en el mensaje
news:[email protected]...
    > It seems they are romanian gipsies, and they were leaving in Spain,
but they
    > were forced to leave. Some of them came to Lisbon, others to Paris.

And many of them stayed in Madrid. Believe me.

Opinions expressed herein are my own and may not represent those of my employer.

Earl Evleth <[email protected]> wrote:

    > 2) Women, often young, and often with babies or young children sitting on the
    > streets asking for money. They are often dressed like peasants. They have a
    > particular whinny approach in trying to get money from you. Many children are
    > lent out for the day, so that pathetic looking young woman could be with a
    > borrowed baby. This use of children is illegal and the police are operating to
    > suppress this use.

I've noticed this more frequently on the London Underground, and it is really quite
tragic, as the kids (when not babies) are frequently of school-age. Begging is
illegal on the underground, but I've never seen anything done about it. What always
amazes me though is that there's always some sucker on the train who _gives_ them
something.

David

--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.co.uk Composer in Association- RLPO david (at) davidhorne
(dot) co (dot) uk

On Mon, 1 Jul 2002 14:33:25 +0100, [email protected] (David Horne) wrote:

    >Earl Evleth <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    >> 2) Women, often young, and often with babies or young children sitting on the
    >> streets asking for money. They are often dressed like peasants. They have a
    >> particular whinny approach in trying to get money from you. Many children are
    >> lent out for the day, so that pathetic looking young woman could be with a
    >> borrowed baby. This use of children is illegal and the police are operating to
    >> suppress this use.
    >
    >I've noticed this more frequently on the London Underground, and it is really quite
    >tragic, as the kids (when not babies) are frequently of school-age. Begging is
    >illegal on the underground, but I've never seen anything done about it. What always
    >amazes me though is that there's always some sucker on the train who _gives_ them
    >something.
    >
    >David
    >
    >--
    >David Horne- www.davidhorne.co.uk Composer in Association- RLPO david (at)
    >davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

dans l'article [email protected], R J Carpenter à[email protected] a écrit le
1/07/02 11:37 :

    > Earl Evleth wrote:
    >>
    >> 3) A current wave of cripples have arrived from eastern Europe, ran by mafia like
    >> gangs, who will ask for money from automobilists at stop lights.
    >
    > Will the "Cour des Miracles" return?
    >
    > To explain:
    >
    > In olden days some crippled beggars would return each night to their lodging in a
    > "Cour des Miracles", where they were miraculously cured until the next morning. The
    > next morning they were cripples again, going out for a day of begging.
    >
    > One did what was necessary to keep eating.

These people clearly have one leg missing. So most of them are authentic. Some have
had polio and have a withered leg.

Years ago I remember seeing a wheel chair bound man pushing his wheel chair away from
his usual spot at the end of the day. But today`s group are authentic.

Earl

dans l'article [email protected], Mig à[email protected] a
écrit le 1/07/02 12:05 :

    > Men don't beg.

Here they sell homeless magazines, they "work".

Earl

Earl Evleth wrote:
    >
    > For a number of months there have been a changing beggar problem in Paris.
    >
    > 1) While homeless magazine sales people have long been on the street the current
    > group is nearly all non-French, a lot of young people from East Europe, Romania
    > seems to be favored.
    >
    > They often are circulating on the major streets and ask for money, not really
    > interested in selling a magazine.
    >
    > A fairly high percentage of the Post Offices will have one of them posted by the
    > door trying to open it for you and secure a donation.
    >
    >
    > 2) Women, often young, and often with babies or young children sitting on the
    > streets asking for money. They are often dressed like peasants. They have a
    > particular whinny approach in trying to get money from you. Many children are
    > lent out for the day, so that pathetic looking young woman could be with a
    > borrowed baby. This use of children is illegal and the police are operating to
    > suppress this use.
    >
    >
    > 3) A current wave of cripples have arrived from eastern Europe, ran by mafia like
    > gangs, who will ask for money from automobilists at stop lights.
    >
    >
    > 4) Young pickpockets, working in groups of 2-3 can be encountered in the train
    > stations and on the metro. One of them will attempt to distract you while the
    > others seek you back pack, purse or pocket.
    >
    > The police constantly work on surpressing these groups. It is not a crime to beg in
    > Paris. Pickpocking is, of course, a crime and the use of kids to do it has been
    > encountered over the years, repeatively repressed but springing up again now and
    > then. The exploitation of the handicapped by mafia like gangs is illegal, so that
    > will be closed down by attacking the organizers. The press and TV has been
    > sympathetic about the handicapped but not their exploiters. The story is that they
    > get beaten up if they don`t make their begging quota. They might collect 30 euros a
    > day but only are given 1-2 to eat on.
    >
    > 5) Two main type of prostitutes are operating in Paris, largely at the edge or on
    > the right bank. The left bank is free of them. The east European prostitutes are
    > exploited by mafia like organizations from East Europe. The African prostitutes
    > apparently are not subject to the same control by the thug element.
    >
    >
    > 6) Some scams have been operating. The use of false police identities has occurred
    > in scams to take euros from tourists, saying they are counterfit. I have only
    > been asked for my identity card once in 25 years of living in Paris, and then it
    > was just to find out who I was. A serious problem would be handled at the
    > commissariat, not on the street. Tourists are extremely unlikely to have an
    > encounter with an agent of the police. The scams are so rare that I know of
    > nobody who has ever been caught up in one.
    >
    > 7) As a side news item, there has been a rash of jewelry store robberies in recent
    > months. Gunplay is rare, the attacks occur with sledgehammers etc, in and out in
    > 1-2 minutes and escaping on motorcycles. Based on past history, the authorities
    > will have repressed this kind of robbery by the end of the year but there will
    > continue to be a run on them for a while. I don`t think this kind of robbery
    > will involve a danger to tourists. They are newsworthy but I have never seen one
    > occur.

You also have beggars on the RER. Typically near the ends of the line when it's not
too crowded anymore. They walk through the car leaving a small piece of paper which
says they are asking for money for food. Then they walk through again, collecting the
pieces of paper and whatever money they get.

And of course there are occasional accordeon players on the same trains. Whom people
do give money to.

"Earl Evleth" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
news:B945F2B4.CE7%[email protected]...
    >
    >
    > For a number of months there have been a changing beggar problem in Paris.
    >
    > 1) While homeless magazine sales people have long been on the street the current
    > group is nearly all non-French, a lot of young people from East Europe, Romania
    > seems to be favored.

Since 1/1/2002 Romanians do no longer need a visa for Schengen countries. There has
been a huge influx of Romanians since. Most of them too poor to survive on their own.
The lifting of the visa rules has been done for purely political reasons.

Sjoerd

Earl Evleth wrote:
    >
    > dans l'article [email protected], R J Carpenter à[email protected] a écrit
    > le 1/07/02 11:37 :
    >
    > > Earl Evleth wrote:
    > >>
    > >> 3) A current wave of cripples have arrived from eastern Europe, ran by mafia
    > >> like gangs, who will ask for money from automobilists at stop lights.
    > >
    > > Will the "Cour des Miracles" return?
    > >
    > > To explain:
    > >
    > > In olden days some crippled beggars would return each night to their lodging in a
    > > "Cour des Miracles", where they were miraculously cured until the next morning.
    > > The next morning they were cripples again, going out for a day of begging.
    > >
    > > One did what was necessary to keep eating.
    >
    > These people clearly have one leg missing. So most of them are authentic. Some have
    > had polio and have a withered leg.

There was a scheme a few years ago, where a group based in Latin America was
kidnapping and enslaving deaf children and forcing them to beg on the New York City
subway. The children were housed in appalling conditions and beaten if they didn't
bring in enough money. Some of the children were forcibly kidnapped, others were sent
away by their families because the group pretended that the children were being sent
to a specialized school for deaf children. The ringleaders of this group were
arrested. The children were either returned to their families, some of whom had been
trying desperately to find their missing children, and others were cared for by
foster families or other social services in New York.

There was also a group in Mexico that rented babies to people trying to cross the
border illegally. This was because family groups with small children were given
special care if caught by border patrol police. This group was caught because an
agent recognized a baby as having been with a different couple a day earlier. The
ringleaders collected the babies and returned them to Mexico for their next trip.

I refuse to give money to any child or any adult who is carrying a child. To do so
encourages the kidnapping and enslavement of children. It is extremely naive to
believe that money given to these child exploiters will in any way benefit the child.

Barbara

dans l'article [email protected], devil à[email protected] a écrit le
1/07/02 18:55 :

    >
    > And of course there are occasional accordeon players on the same trains. Whom
    > people do give money to.

I have tired of "oh how we danced on the night we were wed" after the 500th time.

Earl

Dans l'article <[email protected]>, Barbara Vaughan
<[email protected]> a écrit :

    >
    > I refuse to give money to any child or any adult who is carrying a child. To do
    > so encourages the kidnapping and enslavement of children. It is extremely naive
    > to believe that money given to these child exploiters will in any way benefit
    > the child.
    >
    > Barbara

I'm with you. The only thing I ever give them is a really dirty look.

Donna Evleth

In article <B9468B92.DB9%[email protected]>, Earl Evleth <[email protected]> wrote:

    > dans l'article [email protected], devil à[email protected] a écrit
    > le 1/07/02 18:55 :
    >
    > >
    > > And of course there are occasional accordeon players on the same trains. Whom
    > > people do give money to.
    >
    >
    > I have tired of "oh how we danced on the night we were wed" after the 500th time.
    >
    > Earl

my strategy is to encourage saxaphonists -- I always tip them in subways and stations
-- since saxaphone music is a happy addition to the world

Earl Evleth wrote:

    >
    > 2) Women, often young, and often with babies or young children sitting on the
    > streets asking for money. They are often dressed like peasants. They have a
    > particular whinny approach in trying to get money from you. Many children are
    > lent out for the day, so that pathetic looking young woman could be with a
    > borrowed baby. This use of children is illegal and the police are operating to
    > suppress this use.

I saw a few of these in the Metro stations last year. However, they were quiet (they
just sat there, never really saying anything. I never saw anyone give them

any money, either).

London was a bit worse, as these ladies will follow you around for blocks. That only
happened to me once, though.