Police in Abu Dhabi arrested 237 people for begging during the month of Ramadan.
A senior figure from the force urged members of the public to only donate to charity through official channels.
Handing money to beggars only encourages them to keep asking others for money and causes their crimes to continue, said Major Muslim Mohammed Al-Amiri, deputy director of the Criminal Security Sector at Abu Dhabi Police.
The arrests, he said, were part of an continuing campaign to stamp out begging during Ramadan.
Earlier this month, The National reported how Dubai Police made 127 arrests in the first two weeks of an annual anti-begging crackdown launched at the start of the holy month.
