Felix the Cat
02-13-2006, 10:33 AM
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1220280.ece
Oslo politicians are angered by a recent invasion of organized foreign panhandlers drawn to the capital by recent legislation forbidding the policing of beggars.
A beggar sitting in the middle of Karl Johans gate, Oslo's main pedestrian street, which leads to the palace.
Police and the city council advise people to stop giving to the city's new beggars, and claim that organized bands from Romania have invaded Oslo, newspaper Dagsavisen reports.
Police have received a rash of complaints from Oslo residents who are frustrated by aggressive beggars, and there are a growing number of visiting supplicants from abroad, with beggars from eastern Europe now present year round, instead of just in the summer.
"These beggars have a different approach, with gestures and shouts. I have personally had them shove their cup right up in my face," police officer John Finsberg told Dagsavisen.
But new legislation leaves police powerless to intervene unless a beggar can be construed to be disturbing the peace. Checks reveal that the foreign beggars, most from Romania, have their tourist visas in order, and that they move on to another European country when their time runs out.
"It appears that they are very well organized and we see them driven in to the downtown area together and then they spread out," Finsberg said.
City council leader Erling Lae agrees that the way to stop the trend is for residents to stop giving the newcomers money. The city of Oslo always has an offer of shelter and food for the needy, which applies to legal visitors, so Lae said there is no need for this kind of begging.
Lae also made it clear that authorities do not consider the selling of the street magazine Oslo, a project that allows drug addicts and the homeless to earn money, to be in the same category.
"And most people can easily see the difference between the foreign, organized beggars and a tired Norwegian drug addict asking for help," Lae told Dagsavisen.
Oslo politicians are angered by a recent invasion of organized foreign panhandlers drawn to the capital by recent legislation forbidding the policing of beggars.
A beggar sitting in the middle of Karl Johans gate, Oslo's main pedestrian street, which leads to the palace.
Police and the city council advise people to stop giving to the city's new beggars, and claim that organized bands from Romania have invaded Oslo, newspaper Dagsavisen reports.
Police have received a rash of complaints from Oslo residents who are frustrated by aggressive beggars, and there are a growing number of visiting supplicants from abroad, with beggars from eastern Europe now present year round, instead of just in the summer.
"These beggars have a different approach, with gestures and shouts. I have personally had them shove their cup right up in my face," police officer John Finsberg told Dagsavisen.
But new legislation leaves police powerless to intervene unless a beggar can be construed to be disturbing the peace. Checks reveal that the foreign beggars, most from Romania, have their tourist visas in order, and that they move on to another European country when their time runs out.
"It appears that they are very well organized and we see them driven in to the downtown area together and then they spread out," Finsberg said.
City council leader Erling Lae agrees that the way to stop the trend is for residents to stop giving the newcomers money. The city of Oslo always has an offer of shelter and food for the needy, which applies to legal visitors, so Lae said there is no need for this kind of begging.
Lae also made it clear that authorities do not consider the selling of the street magazine Oslo, a project that allows drug addicts and the homeless to earn money, to be in the same category.
"And most people can easily see the difference between the foreign, organized beggars and a tired Norwegian drug addict asking for help," Lae told Dagsavisen.