UAE’s Federal Law on Anti-begging

According to Federal Law by Decree No. 31 of 2021 Promulgating the Crimes and Penalties Law, anyone caught begging in the UAE will be fined AED 5,000 and imprisoned for a term up to three months. Those operating professional gangs of beggars or recruiting people from outside the country to work as beggars face a jail term of not less than six months and a minimum fine of AED 100,000.

The law aims to:

• preserve the image of the UAE
• protect the society
• fight begging and organised begging.

At the discretion of the UAE’s Public Prosecution, people who are accused of begging, but qualify for social welfare, may be referred to Ministry of Community Development or the competent local authority to get social support or trained for work.

Reporting beggars

 You can report beggars in:

• Abu Dhabi by phone on 999 or 8002626 (800Aman), SMS on 2828 or email to aman@adpolice.gov.ae
• Dubai on 901 or 800243 or 8004888
• Sharjah on 901 or 06-5632222 or 06-5631111
• Ras Al Khaimah on 07-2053372
• Ajman on 06-7034310
• Umm Al Quwain on 999
• Fujairah on 09-2051100 or 09-2224411.