If you are looking for a job in your gap year and want to try something completely different, we can certainly recommend begging in Dubai after reading the latest police findings.
It would seem 2017 was a good year for the beggars in the tiny oil-rich state. Their president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, had named it the 'Year of Charity'. Given that according to the rules of Islam, the well-off should give to the needy, this means that pretty much everyone in Dubai is supposed to stop and give when they see a beggar. Which is exactly the reason why begging is outlawed in the state, but the financial gain that can be made is to luring for them to be scared by the law.
During the first five days of Ramadan, Dubai police escorted 65 professional beggars outside of state borders.
These 'professional beggars', both men and women, arrive in Dubai with a perfectly legal tourist visa, allowing them to stay for three months. And since the average inhabitant of the emirate is quite rich, they are also very generous. A beggar works per month for some 270,000 Dirham, converted $80,000 dollars.
Head of Police of the city of Dubai, Mr. Faisal Al Badawi: "During interrogations, it became clear that the average ‘salary’ was 9,000 Dirham - 2,500 dollars per day,"
“This was probably even more on Fridays. Then they went to post at the mosques ".
The beggars are instructed to find a 'prey' that looks rich. Then they have to give them a heartbreaking story, genre "my family has to sleep on the street" or "I come from a war zone and my family has to send money".
Once they notice that the prey feels compassionate, they do not ask 10 or even 100 Dirham, but they go for the full 1,000 Dirham, about 300 dollars, or more.
Mr. Nawal Al Naqbi, a Dubai resident explains: "They convince people with their stories and win their sympathy."
"I initially also let myself do it. But gradually I saw that there was a system behind and I gave no more money ".
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Whoa I wanna beg in Dubai now. Crazy rich Muslims