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-   -   Traffic lights sellers/beggars (https://britishexpats.com/forum/sand-pit-116/traffic-lights-sellers-beggars-791421/)

Beakersful Mar 22nd 2013 7:24 am

Traffic lights sellers/beggars
 
What's the situation here? Legalities, issues, roots of the problem?

Water, beads, roses, flowers from the sellers. Hand out from dirty clothed kids and even some women. Last night I even had sellers offering big black wigs and V masks (the last of which didn't quite seem to fit the locale)

scot47 Mar 22nd 2013 8:33 am

Re: Traffic lights sellers/beggars
 
In KSA these are mainly illeggls, ie overstayers. People come on Pilgrim Visas and do not go home. Life as a street vendor in Saudi is better than starving in Burkina Faso !

In both Jeddah and Mecca, there are areas where a large percentage of the population are illegal. Some are 2nd or 3rd generatiopn. No right to be there so no tight to health care or to education. A real problem for the government.

Boomhauer Mar 22nd 2013 9:05 am

Re: Traffic lights sellers/beggars
 

Originally Posted by scot47 (Post 10617983)
In KSA these are mainly illeggls, ie overstayers. People come on Pilgrim Visas and do not go home. Life as a street vendor in Saudi is better than starving in Burkina Faso !,.

In both Jeddah and Mecca, there are areas where a large percentage of the population are illegal. Some are 2nd or 3rd generatiopn. No right to be there so no tight to health care or to education. A real problem for the government.

Since they are out in the open plying their wares as the OP states, I assume they are easily apprehended by the authorities?

Re. the areas around Jeddah and Mecca where illegals congregate; I am surprised the authorities haven't rounded them up and deported them, Saudi after all is not known for being humanitarian.

scot47 Mar 22nd 2013 9:24 am

Re: Traffic lights sellers/beggars
 
The areas are not "around" Jeddah and Mecca but are urban slums which have become npo-go areas for the Saudi police. Authorities check IDs on buses etc and illegals are then deported. The smart illegals do not use buses and stay in the areas where they live.

If you want to see what I am talking about go to an area like Hindawiya in Jeddah. If you drive into Jeddah, the urban motorway passes over sevral such districts.

The kids selling at traffic lights do it in groups and take off when they see a police car coming.

Some of the more despearte overstayers hand themselves into the authorities. They are held for a few days and then deported.

Beakersful Mar 22nd 2013 9:32 am

Re: Traffic lights sellers/beggars
 
Where is the bar here though with the beggars? They are definitely dirtier than the sellers, who seem to put on an air of legality (perhaps excludin gthe water sellers.) Do we consider these 'refugees', the poor, illegals, or as the Daily Fail eloquently describes Romanians?

scot47 Mar 22nd 2013 9:38 am

Re: Traffic lights sellers/beggars
 
There is a strong Muslim tradition of giving money to beggars but at the same time I knew many locals who would give those obvious foreigners nothing.

typical Mar 22nd 2013 12:14 pm

Re: Traffic lights sellers/beggars
 
Sadly, they're not all illegals.

Boomhauer Mar 22nd 2013 4:01 pm

Re: Traffic lights sellers/beggars
 

Originally Posted by typical (Post 10618305)
Sadly, they're not all illegals.

Shia?

redShark Mar 22nd 2013 10:29 pm

Re: Traffic lights sellers/beggars
 

Originally Posted by scot47 (Post 10618042)
The areas are not "around" Jeddah and Mecca but are urban slums which have become npo-go areas for the Saudi police. Authorities check IDs on buses etc and illegals are then deported. The smart illegals do not use buses and stay in the areas where they live.

If you want to see what I am talking about go to an area like Hindawiya in Jeddah. If you drive into Jeddah, the urban motorway passes over sevral such districts.

The kids selling at traffic lights do it in groups and take off when they see a police car coming.

Some of the more despearte overstayers hand themselves into the authorities. They are held for a few days and then deported.

There are big mafias running children beggars business in KSA, those children are brought mainly from Africa or Yemen and other poor areas. They become a source of income for their families back home. A child with missing limbs is even better, a money spinner for his family specially during the pilgrimage season, that’s why many pretend to be so, see this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkCyJd_g4LU

Boomhauer Mar 23rd 2013 2:55 am

Re: Traffic lights sellers/beggars
 

Originally Posted by redShark (Post 10619220)
There are big mafias running children beggars business in KSA, those children are brought mainly from Africa or Yemen and other poor areas. They become a source of income for their families back home. A child with missing limbs is even better, a money spinner for his family specially during the pilgrimage season, that’s why many pretend to be so, see this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkCyJd_g4LU

Who are the Mafia heads; Saudis , Yemenis or some other nationalities?

redShark Mar 23rd 2013 11:09 am

Re: Traffic lights sellers/beggars
 

Originally Posted by Boomhauer (Post 10619449)
Who are the Mafia heads; Saudis , Yemenis or some other nationalities?

Mostly Saudis of Yemini or African origins. Normally from the same villages where those kids come from

Bored_in_Riyadh Mar 23rd 2013 12:56 pm

Re: Traffic lights sellers/beggars
 
I did see several young beggar boys at every traffic light junction near Granada Mall on Thursday , all of them were wearing football shirts. I made the wrong assumption it was QPR on an away match.

typical Mar 24th 2013 5:18 am

Re: Traffic lights sellers/beggars
 

Originally Posted by Boomhauer (Post 10618645)
Shia?

Some; others are just poor, jobless Sunnis. There are more about than people expect.

Boomhauer Mar 24th 2013 6:33 am

Re: Traffic lights sellers/beggars
 

Originally Posted by typical (Post 10620615)
Some; others are just poor, jobless Sunnis. There are more about than people expect.

When I first when to College (USA), I was paired up with 3 Saudis in our Mech. Eng. class. 2 ofs the Saudi chaps were on full scholarship and stated that were it not for the scholarship, they could not afford to study in the US. They mentioned that people have this perception of all Saudis as living comfortably off Government stipends , but it isn't so.


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