Scotland Yard Cracks Down on Bulgarian, Romanian Roma Beggars

Roma beggars on Park Lane's central reservation in London. Photo by The London Evening Standard

More than 30 arrests have been made in London in a crackdown against Roma beggars from Bulgaria, Romania, and other Eastern European states.

The crackdown by the British police authorities comes amid fears they are targeting tourists and using children to help them make money, The London Evening Standard reported on Friday.

Scotland Yard is responding to rising levels of antisocial behaviour caused by gipsy travellers coming to the capital from countries including Romania, Lithuania and Bulgaria to beg or commit crime, the paper said in a report.

The British police are now working with borders officials and Romanian police to cut the number of beggars, including many young children and heavily pregnant women, in areas such as Oxford Street, Marble Arch and Edgware Road.

The crackdown, called Operation Chefornak, has resulted in more than 30 arrests, with a similar number returned home by coach and a further 40 referred to social services.

Sergeant Diana Hurd, who is leading the operation, said: "I don't think they came here thinking the pavements are paved with gold but they just come here in the hope that it is a little bit better."

Police say some beggars are targeting Muslim-owned shops, while others are using their young children to get sympathy from passers-by.

There have also been reports of travellers stealing phones or wallets from restaurant tables or posing as undercover police in order to trick tourists.

The Standard accompanied a team of Met police, UK Border Agency officials, Romanian police and Westminster and Haringey council workers dealing with Roma beggars.

One heavily pregnant woman was arrested near Bond Street Tube station after being spotted begging. Three more pregnant women were held for the same offence outside Selfridges.

Officers then spoke to an elderly Romanian woman near Marble Arch who has previous convictions.

She told a Romanian translator she was "poor" and "came here to beg". Seven people were arrested on Thursday and 15 were stopped, The London Evening Standard said.

Various Western European cities have recently been plagued with "begging" rings organized by Roma from Bulgaria and Romania, which are technically organized crime networks as they regularly feature human trafficking, exploitation of children, women, and disabled people, prostitution, pickpocketing, and various other crimes and abuses.

The Roma begging rings are often based on clan structures rendering the authorities in the respective home countries such as Bulgaria and Romania unable to crack down on them. The Roma migration problem because especially acute in 2011 when France deported back to Bulgaria and Romania thousands of Roma EU citizens.

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