Begging has now become an organized industry in Pakistan. According to Pakistan’s Defense Minister, Khawaja Mohammad Asif, there are approximately 22 million beggars in the country, earning approximately 42 billion rupees annually. The growing number of these beggars not only tarnishes the country’s social image, but they also travel abroad through gangs to beg, affecting law and order in other countries.
Pakistani gangs beg abroad
Pakistani beggars travel to Middle Eastern countries to beg under the guise of pilgrimage and tourist visas. Begging is legally prohibited in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Oman. Despite this, Pakistani gangs remain active in these countries. Recently, Saudi Arabia deported 56,000 Pakistani citizens on charges of begging.
Sensational daily earnings figures
According to Gulf News report, in March 2025, when a Pakistani citizen was caught in Sharjah, he was found with 14 thousand dirhams, i.e. approximately 3 lakh rupees. He told the police that he had earned this amount in just three days, i.e. approximately one lakh rupees in one day. Similarly, 50 thousand dirhams, i.e. 11 lakh rupees, were recovered from 127 Pakistani beggars caught in Dubai. Sharjah police arrested 107 beggars at the beginning of the year, who were also found with 11 lakh rupees.
Begging is technically illegal in Pakistan.
Under the Vagrancy Ordinance of 1958, begging or forcing children to beg can result in up to three years in prison. Despite this, the trade continues to operate in an organized manner in Pakistan, and there is insufficient machinery to stop it. Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) reported that professional beggars from South Punjab, Karachi, and interior Sindh have been repeatedly deported from the Middle East. Upon their return, they are placed on the Passport Control List (PCL), preventing them from traveling abroad again.
Nearly 90 percent of beggars arrested abroad are Pakistani citizens operating under the guise of pilgrimage
. Most travel to Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq on pilgrimage visas and beg there. The problem has become so serious in Saudi Arabia that the government has requested Pakistan to stop sending such citizens to the country.
Saudi Arabia is the most affected.
Millions of pilgrims visit Saudi Arabia every year. The increasing activity of Pakistani beggars has affected crowds and security at religious sites. The FIA recently arrested 16 beggars on a Saudi-bound flight who had come on Umrah visas but intended to stay in Mecca and Medina to beg.