Ammon News - AMMAN - When Ramzi entered the 15th year of his life, he accepted his father's request to quit school and start making money to help his family make ends meet.

Yet, little did Ramzi know then that the career his father chose for him was begging on the streets of Amman, capital of Jordan.

The teenager began asking for money near traffic intersections in one of Amman's most affluent neighborhoods, trying to gain people's sympathy.

Ramzi was not the only child in the family who worked as a beggar; over time his two younger brothers were also forced to beg by their father.

Ramzi and his siblings represent part of some 200 children detained annually in Jordan after being pressured by their family into begging, according to Jordan's Anti-Vagrancy Department, affiliated to the Social Development Ministry.

According to the department, an average of 1,200 beggars are apprehended annually in Jordan. Around 15 to 20 percent of them are children forced to beg by their family.

In terms of age, around 50 percent of those coerced into vagrancy are females aged between 14 and 25.

"The number of beggars has been decreasing in Jordan due to efforts in discouraging the phenomenon and educating the public," Head of Anti-Vagrancy Department Khalid Rawashdeh, who dealt with Ramzi's case, told Xinhua.

According to the department, the number of beggars arrested in 2007 stood at 1,684, while 1,567 were apprehended in 2008. During the first three quarters of 2009, 1,230 beggars were rounded up and the number was expected to reach 1,400 by the end of the year.

However, an overwhelming majority of beggars in Jordan are not poor and enjoy "good" financial conditions, according to officials.

Many of those asking for money on Amman streets have their own houses and cars and in some cases several sources of income, said Rawashdeh, who preferred not to mention Ramzi's family name for safety concern.

For 95 percent of beggars, playing to people's sympathy to cheat them of money have turned into a full-blown career, he added.

"A huge number of beggars do this for a second source of income," Rawashdeh said, adding that only 5 percent of vagrants were either poor, mentally-disabled or patients who needed money for urgent treatment.

In Jordan, the act of begging is considered a crime, Rawashdeh said, stressing that those arrested for a first-time offense would be given a second chance.

Those arrested multiple times for vagrancy, however, are subject to penalties ranging from one month to three years in prison, in addition to fines.

According to Rawashdeh, Ramzi, who is currently 18, has been arrested for over 10 times in the past three years due to begging and spent six months in prison earlier this year.

Ramzi's father has also been detained for one month, while his two other sons quit the "profession" after being arrested.

According to religious experts, taking advantage of people's sympathy for financial gains is against the Islamic teachings.

"There are zakat (alms) funds, charities and societies that care for the poor. What is going on is uncivilized and people should not give money to beggars," said Abdul Nasser Abul Basal, a member of Jordan's Al Ifta Council, which is in charge of issuing religious edicts.

Associate professor of sociology Hussein Khozahi said a majority of those working as beggars had become accustomed to the practice and found it lucrative and "difficult to give it up."

According to Rawashdeh, nowadays, a beggar in Jordan usually makes an average of around 15-20 Jordanian dinars each day, equivalent to 20-30 U.S. dollars.

Despite the success of the government's anti-vagrancy campaign, Khozahi said it came down to the average citizen to eliminate the practice.

"Those who give beggars money encourage the spread of one of the oldest and most annoying phenomena known to human beings," Khozahi said.

* Mohammad Ghazal/ Xinhua