On October 5 this month, a gang of two men and two women reached Lahore's Allama Iqbal Airport to go to Saudi Arabia on the pretext of begging for Umrah.
This 'organized gang' of beggars from Kasur district of Punjab included Nasreen Bibi, her uncle Aslam, aunt Parveen and brother Arif.
These four close relatives reached the FIA immigration counter located at the airport with beautiful dreams.
Earlier, Nasreen Bibi had gone to Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq 16 times while Parveen nine times to beg on the pretext of performing Umrah or going on pilgrimage.
Although Aslam and Arif were visiting Saudi Arabia for the first time, they had previously traveled to Iran and Iraq several times to beg under the pretext of Ziyarat.
After interrogating the four people, the officials deployed at FIA Immigration stopped them from boarding the plane and registered a case under the 'Trafficking in Persons Act 2018' and arrested them.
According to the FIR, during interrogation all four confessed that they were going to Saudi Arabia in the name of Umrah, but their real purpose was to go there and beg.
According to the copy of the FIR available with BBC, all four have already gone to Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq to beg.
According to the FIR, there is evidence of this gang begging abroad through mobile message conversations between the accused and their agent Jahanzeb. His mobile has been sent for forensic examination.
Nasreen Bibi and Parveen were sent to judicial custody while the remaining two accused Mohammad Aslam and Arif are in lockup for questioning.
When the BBC spoke to Nasreen Bibi outside her local court appearance on 9 October, she said: "Will arresting us like this solve the problem? Aren't people in this country dying of hunger? "Shouldn't there be a right to earn a living?"
Doesn't begging in Arab brings defamation to Pakistan?
According to Nasreen Bibi, this work is not going to stop with such arrests. “We caught the poor people easily, have you ever caught anyone powerful here?”
When he was asked whether going out of the country to beg does not bring disrepute to Pakistan, he replied, "Which flags are there first?"
Keep in mind that recently Zulfiqar Haider, Secretary of the Pakistani Ministry of Overseas, had told the Senate Standing Committee that 90 percent of the beggars arrested abroad are from Pakistan.
After this claim came to light, BBC's investigation revealed that in a planned manner, the agents present in Pakistan also send beggars or needy people to the Middle East countries, especially Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, to beg. These agents also have a share in the money collected through begging.
However, recently, the Saudi government made a formal complaint to the Pakistani government on this matter and also issued instructions to the Federal Home Ministry to resolve the issue. As a result of this, Nasreen Bibi and her family were arrested.
According to Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), recently some gangs have been arrested from Multan and Sialkot which take people to Saudi Arabia on the pretext of Umrah.
The number of people arrested after offloading till now is 37.
Going to Saudi Arabia for the first time
Nasreen Bibi's uncle Aslam and brother Arif told BBC that they were going to Saudi Arabia for the first time to beg on the pretext of performing Umrah. Majid Ali says that his entire family begs and this has been going on for generations.
We had given Rs 2 lakh 30 thousand per person to the agent for arranging visa and tickets. According to him, all these people had to stay in Saudi Arabia for about 20 days.
"First I used to beg in the streets and neighborhoods as a monkey, but then I also went to Iran and Iraq to beg."
According to Arif, he used to earn 20 to 30 thousand rupees per person on a trip after covering expenses in Iran and Iraq.
Arif said that “He used to go to Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia and beg, sometimes pretending to be dumb and sometimes making gestures to eat bread with his hands.
Arif says that 'in this way the pilgrimage journey was facilitated and money was also earned.'
The people who have been arrested are not telling anything about the people who provide them help in Saudi Arabia.
But according to FIA investigating officers, investigation is going on under the supervision of FIA Deputy Director Anti Human Circle Muhammad Riaz Khan against those people who provide other facilities to such people in Saudi Arabia.
News Credit- BBC News Hindi.
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