Begging proliferation is partly due to the non-application of the law and insufficient prevention, said Harouchi to “Aujourd'hui Le Maroc.”
In an interview published today with the French language daily “Aujourd'hui Le Maroc,” Abderrahim Harouchi, the Moroccan Minister of Social Development, Family and Solidarity, pointed out that the non-application of the law on begging is among the chief reasons for its proliferation.
“Among the main causes of the proliferation of this phenomenon, you have the non application of the law against begging, especially concerning children and babies, insufficient prevention measures, […]the lack - until now - of an integrated strategy for […] the social reinsertion of people who beg to survive, the repression of exploitation and the lack of structures,” he said.
Harouchi also stressed that a programme has been elaborated in order to fight the proliferation of begging, insisting that the priority should be given to women and children since they are the main victims of this phenomenon.
The Moroccan law includes two to six-month prison sentences for beggars over 18. However, the fact that it is seldom applied and that charity is deeply embedded in the Moroccan mentality has led many to live out of begging.
With daily incomes varying between MAD 50 and MAD 200 a day -depending on estimations - it is considered that up to 500,000 people could be living as professional beggars in Morocco – i.e. more “employees” than in the textile and tourism sectors together.
Children and disabled people are considered as the main victims of this form of trade, since they are often forced, either by relatives or people who “rent” them, to spend whole days in busy avenues.
In addition, according to the Moroccan League for the Protection of Childhood, most of the begging children suffer from a number of chronic diseases such as diabetes or asthma. It is also noted that most of these children are little boys seeing that the little girls tend to be employed in homes, and that 25% of these children have never been to school.
According to official figures, an estimated 4.2 million people (14% of Morocco's population) leave below the poverty line.