RIYADH, 18 April 2008 — A drug addict abandoned his family for nine years, forcing them to move around from one family to another. Um Turki, a 40-year-old mother of three, is now living with a friend after her husband abandoned her.
“After I lost contact with my husband I started moving from one location to the next looking for some means of living,” Um Turki said, adding that since she has no formal education she was only able to work as a coffee maker at different wedding ceremonies. She said her husband left her after five years of marriage.
Before her husband disappeared he tore up all official documents of her children making made it more difficult for her. They now live as people who have no nationality despite being Saudi.
“Turki, my eldest son, is now 18 years old, which means that he can get a job. However, he cannot have one simply because he has no ID card and no schooling. None of his siblings were able to get into school.”
Um Turki said that she gets in return for making coffee some SR100 or SR120 that can hardly bring anything to her family. “We stay for days without food,” she added.
Abu Turki went missing nine years ago after his health condition deteriorated leaving his wife and three children in real misery.
