Mombasa: 40 Jordanian tourists arrested for begging in the streets

The tourists were reportedly seen begging on the streets of Old Town and Marikiti Market on Thursday in order to raise funds for their trip to Nairobi.

Mr Maxwell Agoro, the Mvita Sub-county Police Commander, confirmed the arrest, saying the police went to arrest the tourists after receiving a tip from locals.

The foreigners, 19 adults and 21 children, had valid tourist visas, but begging violated the terms of their travel documents, leading to their arrest, according to Agoro.

“Upon finding them the police escorted them to the Central police station for interrogation. They were found to be going against the regulation of the visa by converting themselves to beggars as opposed to being tourists,” he said speaking to Nation.

Mr Agoro further said that preliminary investigations revealed that the 40 were on their way to Eastleigh in Nairobi and had to beg to raise funds for their travel.

The foreigners will now be forwarded to the immigration office for further processing.

Meanwhile they are being held at the Coast Regional Police Headquarters where they are being interrogated.