RIYADH, 26 January 2007 — Aiman was like most Saudi young men, hoping for a wife and children to build a happy family. He used to travel a lot in his younger days, and he once met a young Moroccan girl, Nadia. They married and moved to the Kingdom. Soon Nadia was pregnant.

“My pampered wife said that she would like her parents to come and celebrate with us our first child,” he said. “I did not hesitate to get them visas.”

Nadia gave birth to a baby girl and the young couple named her Ebtihal.

“My parents-in-law were very demanding; they wanted to buy and get whatever they see or pass by. I could not afford their ongoing demands,” Aiman told Sayidaty, a sister publication of Arab News.

The in-laws left the Kingdom in a huff, frustrated by their son-in-law’s attitude. “I then continued my normal life with my wife and daughter,” he said.

Three months later, nearly 14 years ago, he received a phone call from Morocco saying his father-in-law had passed away. The couple and their infant daughter packed their bags and headed to the funeral. “I was shocked to see that the first to welcome us at the airport was my father-in-law,” said Aiman.

The in-laws explained their reasons: They wanted to bring their daughter and grandchild to Morocco and this was the only way they could think of. Aiman stayed a few days, confused and angry at the ruse. When he wanted to return to the Kingdom, his wife refused, and the man had no choice but to return without his wife and child. After all Aiman was a foreigner in Morocco and his wife had the support of her parents.

“My wife said that she no longer likes living with me,” said Aiman. “On top of that she asked me to forget her and their daughter.”

In 1995 a Saudi court ruled that Nadia must return with the child to her husband, but nevertheless Aiman had no legal recourse in a custody case involving a woman from another country who was not in the Kingdom.

Aiman claims he cannot find Nadia, her family, or his daughter. “I went 60 times to Morocco,” he said. “I go on every break, and every holiday. I have spent around SR100,000 chasing them. I thought that would help but it didn’t,” said Aiman, who says he believes that his wife and child now live in Dubai.

Aiman claims that eight years ago he received a call from his former mother-in-law saying he could see his daughter for SR75,000.

“I couldn’t afford that, especially since I had been spending a lot on my trips to Morocco. Later she also suggested that she would let me see my daughter if I stopped asking for the custody, something which I refused to do,” said Aiman. He blames part of his problem on the Moroccan government’s decision to grant citizenship to children of Moroccan women.

Muhammad Dafa, a law consultant, said that the disappearance of the wife complicates the issue.

Dafa said he might benefit from fighting the case in Morocco, not in Saudi Arabia. He added that a girl can decide which parent she wants to live with when she is seven years old, but that the distance would make visitation rights for the other spouse difficult.

The Saudi Ministry of Interior has brought up the issue of Saudis marrying non-Saudis, and the problems it can create, including the custody of children and material demands from a foreign wife, such as asking for accommodations in her home country.

On top of that, men who marry non-Saudi women without having a prenuptial checkup are at risk of developing deadly diseases. Social and cultural barriers add to the pressure, with many women having unhelpful attitudes after moving to Saudi Arabia. The ministry also explained the problems that the children face in this type of marriage.

First of all, the differences in customs and traditions do affect the raising of the children. These children do not find anyone to pay their expenses the moment their father dies. And the majority of these children do not enjoy their full rights as Saudi citizens, and their names might not be found in the official documents.