Saudi women married to non-Saudis finally got a break when they won the right to sponsor their own children, and that their children are considered Saudis by the government in getting education and work. This gives women more control over the lives of their families and more stability. There is security knowing that their children can receive government education and have access to good jobs.
We know that previously, children of Saudi women were virtually non-entities in the eyes of the government. Children of non-Saudi fathers have no citizenship. The law says that only boys can receive the citizenship at the age of 18 if they meet specific requirements. And even then, there is no guarantee that boys will ever receive citizenship. No child of expats receives citizenship at birth. Up until the new decree, children of non-Saudi fathers had no rights as Saudis, although they were Saudis in every aspect except name.
So, the recent decree gives these children a measure of comfort, yet it says nothing about what happens to these children once their mother dies.
In Islam, if the mother dies and she had children, the care goes to the mother’s mother. If there is no grandmother, then the aunt is given custody. Will the government apply same rules? If the aunt dies, what happens to the children then? There is no permanent citizenship for children of non-Saudi fathers or permanent residency like obtaining a Green Card in the United States. These questions remain unanswered by the Ministry of Interior.
The lack of answers poses other problems. Children of Saudi mothers are listed as employees under the mother’s sponsorship. Unemployed Saudi mothers who are widowed or divorced receive monthly aid from the Ministry of Social Affairs. There have been recent reports that aid to these women have been stopped because their children are listed as employees under the Ministry of Interior’s rules and regulations. According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, if an individual has three or more employees, that individual is considered a company and is not entitled to social aid. Single mothers with three or more children are denied social benefits.
Hundreds of women have complained. The only answer they receive from the government that nothing is clear and it will take some time to solve these issues. This inequity is easily rectified by simply making the distinction between what constitutes a business and what is defined as a mother with dependent children. There once was a time when human beings cared about the condition of his or her neighbor and ensured that food and housing is available to all. For a single a mother with children, having food and shelter is far more important than giving her children Saudi citizenship.
There is a desperate need for immediate intervention from the government to guarantee closer cooperation between the different ministries. In this case, cooperation between the Ministries of Interior, Labor and Social Affairs is vital to the survival of families dependent on social aid and dependent on the government to ensure their children are safe after a mother’s death.
Now is the right time to reform labor laws. There are promising changes in the country that spell a bright future for Saudis and expats. It’s necessary that we see that every expat and Saudi is working in a legal manner. The collateral issues involve the welfare of the family, making sure that children of expats get the same consideration. Labor laws can’t be reformed in a vacuum. There are real consequences to deporting expats who happened to be married to Saudi mothers. There are real consequences to their children. Be it deportation, divorce or death, Saudi mothers with children from non-Saudi fathers must receive the full benefits that the government has to offer.
This requires that the Ministries of Social Affairs, Labor and Interior develop a system that ideally puts the welfare of Saudi mothers under the umbrella of a government body, such as Ministry of Family Affairs, to establish rules and regulations to guarantee that all mothers are protected.
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