“Is traditional beggary receding in the face of electronic recovery… The role of Jordanian law in protecting citizens from the phenomenon of electronic beggary?”
بقلم: Daniella Alquran

Alnashraaldawlia

  With the interruption of direct communication due to the closures due to the Corona virus, the Internet has become a preferred destination for begging, and social media has turned into a large and active platform for collecting false donations under the banner of “electronic beggary”. The beggars absent from the streets, turned away from the eyes of the authorities that pursue them, and hid behind their phone screens, to practice their profession with all cleverness and professionalism, sometimes armed with forged medical reports begging for emotions, and at other times with accumulated financial bills and claims, or university fees that were not paid, in a phenomenon that distorted many aspects  Charity work, and wasted a lot on the real needy.

  A large number of social media users warned against begging in its various forms, expressing their fear that it will turn into a social phenomenon, including a waste of human dignity, and it may be the first step to deviation, committing crimes and spreading unemployment through obtaining money without effort or work. The methods of beggary have developed, as the owners began to invent new ways, including “social media”, with fake accounts and fake phone numbers, to reach the largest number of users and obtain money from them illegally.

  There is a need for deterrent legislation and laws that take into account the tremendous technological development to deter fraudsters through electronic begging, noting that the ball is in the court of social media users to reduce and combat this dangerous phenomenon by donating and delivering aid to those who deserve it through specialized and licensed associations to prevent them from falling victim to a scam. And fraud.

  The Ministry of Social Development began preparing a draft law to combat fraudulent fundraising in 2019, including “electronic beggary,” in cooperation with partners, including the Ministry of Interior, Finance, Endowments, Islamic Affairs and Holy Places, digital economy, leadership and the Bank. To protect citizens from this phenomenon. The project comes in light of “the Jordanian Penal Code devoid of addressing new means of communication, including social media, and other media channels, some of which tend to collect donations and beg in new ways.”

  Begging is a crime punishable by law with imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months, and the maximum penalty may reach one year in prison. However, the relatively new phenomenon has prompted the Jordanian government to draft a law to combat electronic begging, in order to prosecute the concerned parties that collect unlicensed donations according to the law and order through social media as a fraud and part of electronic begging. There is no legal text in the Penal Code nor in the Jordanian constitution that criminalizes this process, and for this reason several committees were formed to work on a law criminalizing this behavior.” The penal code did not address the means of communication and called for the formation of these committees. The government had included beggary among the crimes stipulated in the Human Trafficking Law, with the aim of protecting children from being exploited in beggary or forced labor, which has increased remarkably recently due to the spread of the Corona virus.

  Such acts “constitute the offense of fraud and fraud,” and we point out that the crime of begging on the Internet needs a law of its own, but the Ministry, in order to prevent this phenomenon, pursues those who are proficient in begging on communication sites, and refers it to the judiciary for violating the fundraising system emanating from the Ministry’s laws.

  Law No. 9 of 2009 is awaiting amendments to the Prevention of Human Trafficking Law after its transition to the second constitutional stage, which is the National Assembly, as begging is a crime of human trafficking, the new penalty of which is no less than seven years in temporary work, and a fine of up to 20,000 dinars. The draft law amending the Human Trafficking Law of 2019 refers to amending paragraph “b” of Article 3 of the original law to read as follows: “The word exploitation means the exploitation of persons in forced or compulsory labor, slavery, servitude, removal of organs or  In prostitution, beggary, or any form of sexual exploitation.” Article 9 of it stipulates that one of the crimes of human trafficking, including begging, be committed.

  The legislative treatment of beggary in the Jordanian national legal system is limited to the criminalization of beggary under the general penal rules. Begging is a crime punishable under Article 389 of the Penal Code.