Gang held for using people with special needs to beg

Details have emerged of an alleged case of human trafficking, where people with special needs were thought to have been brought into the UAE to be used as beggars in Sharjah.

Yesterday, Sharjah Police said they had arrested an Asian gang in connection with the crime, although it had originally been thought that only one man was to face prosecution on trafficking charges.

The case is believed to be the first case of its kind in the UAE.

The alleged human traffickers – from undisclosed Asian countries – are accused of taking advantage of more than 35 people with special needs and forcing them to go out on the streets to beg.

The gang brought the people from their home countries into the UAE, including four people who had lost arms or legs to amputation, to collect money, said a Sharjah police official.

The gang members were referred to Sharjah Public Prosecution.

Col Ebrahim Al Ajel, director of Sharjah Police’s Criminal Investigation Department, said: “The arrests followed several reports about the gang, who took advantage of people with special needs.

“We identified the location where the [human trafficking] victims were living. They were found in bad conditions and were saved.”

The rescued parties were taken to shelters for victims of human trafficking in Abu Dhabi.

A post on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website last Wednesday said that a UAE court was to prosecute a man accused of using people of determination as beggars.