Saudi Arabia to deport 46 Indian beggar children

Saudi Arabia is set to deport within a week another batch of 46 Indian children, illegally staying in the oil-rich kingdom and begging on the streets near holy places there.

According to reports received by the Indian external affairs ministry from the Indian mission in Saudi Arabia, these children - 40 boys and six girls - are at present lodged at the deportation centre in Jeddah.

The Indian consulate in Jeddah is arranging food, clothing and medical care for these children, most of whom hail from Murshidabad in West Bengal.

Official sources said once the consulate fully verifies the antecedents of these children, they would be deported to India within a week.

This will be the second batch of Indian children to be despatched by the Saudi authorities for overstaying illegally in the kingdom and earning their livelihood by begging.

Recently, 77 children, 76 of them females, were deported by the Saudi authorities. These children are at present lodged at the remand home in Bombay, pending their restoration to their parents.

The sources said the Indian government had started undertaking a stricter immigration check of Saudi Arabia bound passengers in view of the deportation of these children. ''The external affairs ministry is examining as to how it can strengthen the immigration check without causing inconvenience to those going for pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia,'' they added.

Giving the background of the incident, the sources said there seemed to be an organised racket which would buy children from poor families from India going for the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. These children are forced into begging during the haj pilgrimage and umra (pilgrimage during the non-haj period).

The sources said the focus of this racket is now on Murshidabad, a predominantly Muslim district in West Bengal. ''These racketeers allure impoverished Muslim families in parting with their children after the haj,'' the sources said.

These children are then made to beg since alms giving is a practice observed by pilgrims at holy places. The children usually reap a rich harvest and the money goes to these racketeers.

The sources said that begging by Indian children in the kingdom came to light when the authorities there cracked down on foreigners overstaying after the previous haj.

The sources said the Saudi authorities' 'operation cleansing' before the next haj, scheduled for April, is still on in Mecca and Medina.

However, this is the first time that the Saudi authorities have detected Indian children illegally staying in the kingdom and begging.

The sources said the Indian government has also asked the West Bengal government to closely monitor the situation in Murshidabad to which most of the children deported belong.

UNI