Beggars on our streets

The beggars have appeared over the past few weeks in Walthamstow Market.

Youngsters as young as seven have been seen pleading for money, often during school hours.

Dave Bonner, whose family have run a stall in the market for generations, said that children of ten or 11 had targeted his customers.

"They come up to people in our queue," he said. "Not one person in this country has to starve."

Adding that he thought the beggars were Roma gypsies, he commented: "The Romanians are not lazy people. A lot of them put our boys to shame."

Trader Mag Hatfield, 20, said the beggars had turned up suddenly two or three weeks ago. He also thinks they are Roma.

"A lot of them have nicer clothes on than the customers. But if it's one degree or zero degrees outside, and you see people with babies begging, you think that's not right, he said"

Stallholder Maj Ali, 23, was also concerned about pregnant women sitting on the ground in the cold.

"I think it's not right begging. We all work for a living."

Another stallholder, who did not want to be named, said he thought the team were one family, of around ten people, who looked Romanian or Bulgarian.

"I've seen one ten-year-old girl and a little boy, and there's a woman who's six months pregnant sitting on the cold ground. I feel sorry for them," he said.

Sgt Denise Canderton of the High Street ward Safer Neighbourhood Team said: "The market has been swamped by these beggars in the last few weeks.

"I've seen mothers with babies. I've heard from people coming into the market office reporting children of seven, eight, nine, right up to teenage years begging.

"We stopped an 11-year-old boy, and he spoke French, but we think Romanian is his main language."

"We urge people not to give these people money as it just encourages them."

Call the team on 8721 2035 or 07843 291115 if you have any information.

SEVERAL market traders said they have seen men watching over the predominately women and child beggars and collecting their money, and police have confirmed that they think it is organised.

Stallholder Dave Bonner said he had watched men come along and collect the money from women and children as young as ten at the end of the day.

Maj Ali, who runs a different stall, agreed.

"There's definitely a team of them. I saw one lad of about 18 or 19 yesterday, and he was sitting watching over them. I could tell they were together because they all looked Romanian," he said.

A spokeswoman for Anti Slavery International said human trafficking for forced labour was a problem across London, but it was difficult to monitor because police only prosecuted traffickers who forced women to work as prostitutes.

She said it was a common misconception that trafficked people were illegal immigrants. Many are from the EU and legally allowed to work here but arrived in the country after being promised good jobs by dodgy employment agencies, friends or even relatives.

"Clearly people are being trafficked from Poland, Lithuania and Romania," she said.

Once here, their bosses exploit them by keeping hold of their passports and paying them little or nothing, abusing their lack of knowledge of the country and language barriers or threatening them with violence.

If they are caught by police while being involved in criminal activities or turn to police for help, they are more likely to be treated as illegal immigrants and deported than given help as victims.

The charity is urging the Government to sign up to the Council of Europe's Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings.

Sgt Denise Canderton of the High Street Ward Safer Neighbourhoods Team said that if police caught children begging, social services would be called in straight away.

BOTH police and council representatives said they were taking the begging problem seriously.

Although begging itself is illegal, police are considering getting anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) for beggars, because arresting them would not be effective.

Sgt Denise Canderton of the High Street Ward Safer Neighbourhood Team has also arranged a meeting with police in the West End who have successfully solved a similar problem in their area.

"We are still in the investigative stage, and some questions we can't answer. Language is a barrier. We have to ensure that these people understand the process we are going through," she said.

Information leaflets in different languages that outline the offences being committed and details of support services are also planned.

Where children are involved, a series of agencies, will be brought in.

A council spokeswoman said: "Waltham Forest Council treats very seriously allegations of child abuse or neglect and responds to referrals or notifications of abuse in accordance with statutory duties and obligations.

"Social services responds to each referral on its individual merits, depending on the details of the case in question.

"If evidence of harm emerges or multiple notifications about the same child are received, a manager review and detailed assessment of the case is triggered."

Late last year the council took action to tackle aggressive begging in Leyton with the successful application for a dispersal order in the Lea Bridge Road area.

REPORTS of beggars, also evidently Roma, in other locations in the borough have reached the Guardian this week.

A woman who drives around regularly on business said she had been caught three times at the junction of Markhouse Road and Lea Bridge Road by "squeegee" merchants.

The first time she said there was only a teenage boy and a man running out into the traffic to wash windscreens uninvited and then demanding money.

"On the following days, he turned up with his mum, his nan and his sister," she said.

"They only do half your window. It is really annoying, and someone is going to get hurt one day."

A man reported a heavily shrouded woman beggar getting on his Central Line train in Leytonstone. She went down the carriage asking for money.