The Ministry of Social Affairs says it will directly refer persons or establishments to the Public Prosecution if they are found violating the donation collection laws.
A local Arabic daily has learned that the Department of Charity Societies and Charity Associations in the Social Development Sector of the Ministry has addressed several letters to the Public Prosecutor, requesting that necessary measures must be taken against a group of individuals who have violated the donations collecting law to ensure tight control over the collected money. The matter only applies to the notified legal entities that operate under the umbrella of the state.
According to one of the correspondences the Attorney General said the field teams concerned with removing charitable work violations had observed some people had placed billboards along public streets and roads calling for donations without obtaining prior approval from the Ministry, emphasizing that this is a serious violation of Article 1 of Law No. (59) of 1959, which was issued to regulate collection of funds for public purposes.
The sources added “the aforementioned article prohibits individuals or groups from collecting donations from the public by any means, even for the purpose of spending them on charity work, except after obtaining a previous license from the Ministry of Social Affairs, at least a month before the start of the collection, specifying the duration, method and purpose of the collection and the entity on which the money is collected, stressing that this step would keep in check those who collect donations in the name of charity through illegal means away from the eyes of the state, and without obtaining prior approval from the concerned government agencies.