RIYADH, 26 April 2007 — Physically disabled Saudis complain of job and social discriminations that affect their ability to achieve financial independence and obtain adequate medical help. They also say that the social stigma attached to their disability prevents them from getting married.
The Saudis also point out that social services for the physically disabled is sub-standard. “In Riyadh, for instance, there is only one hospital that welcome the handicapped,” said wheelchair-bound Sultan Al-Inizi, 21. “And that hospital has only 156 beds and lacks many advanced facilities and equipment.”
According to Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper, which didn’t cite a source, there are approximately 320,000 Saudis in the Kingdom who are permanently disabled and in need of regular treatments, therapies or accommodations. And the financial straits faced by Saudis with physical disabilities shut them out of private care.
“Our salaries do not exceed SR1,500, and this is hardly sufficient for our personal expenses,” said Yahya Al-Zahrani.
Al-Zahraini lamented his inability to obtain treatments that would allow him to have children through artificial insemination, which he said would cost SR18,000 at a private facility.
Al-Zahrani also complained that there aren’t even handicapped parking spaces in front of mosques.
He also described how difficult it was for him to find a spouse. “Saudi women don’t want to marry people with disabilities,” he said. “We have to look outside the Kingdom for wives.”
This poses another problem, according to Al-Zahraini, because finding a foreign wife is difficult and the state doesn’t provide assistance to Saudis seeking foreign wives.
Saudi law requires companies to fill 5 percent of their work force with Saudis with disabilities, but little information is available to show if these quotas are being met or not.
