Morocco: Towards Criminalizing Begging?

According to the study presented by Ahmed Reda Chami, president of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE), Morocco has 200,000 beggars. In 2022, the security forces arrested 44,260 beggars compared to 28,597 in 2021 and 12,590 in 2020. In 2021, 10,899 beggars were presented to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. After presenting these statistics, the CESE recommended the decriminalization of begging by children and destitute families, the disabled and the elderly, who are the real poor. In 2003, 42.9% of the child beggars interviewed as part of a study on "children and begging" said they were seeking to materially support their destitute families, reports the daily Assabah. 27.3% of these children said they resorted to begging to provide for their food, while 11.3% said they were involved in begging because of family problems. "It is necessary to adopt a compassionate approach towards people involved in begging, recognizing their inherent dignity and providing them with adequate support to get out of this precarious situation. This could include social services, vocational reintegration programs and access to mental and physical health care," Reda Chami suggested to Hespress.

However, the CESE calls for the criminalization of only the professional gangs that make organized begging a lucrative business. "General security is also compromised by networks exploiting immigrants in the context of begging. It is therefore imperative to put in place repressive measures against those who abuse the weakest, while guaranteeing the respect of the rights of beggars," recommended the president of the CESE.