JEDDAH: The two young Saudi sisters who offered their kidneys for sale two months ago are expressing their “loss of hope” as they have not received any help from the social security office in Madinah.
“Nothing has happened for two months now. Though they (the Ministry of Social Affairs) promised to give us immediate help,” one of the young women told Arab News yesterday.
Arab News received a fax signed from the ministry on Aug. 11, a day after publishing the story, asking for the contact information for the family to investigate the case and provide them with help.
Officials from the Riyadh branch of the ministry contacted the family. Later Atiyah Abu Dangar, head of the social security office in Madinah, investigated the case.
Abu Dangar has previously pointed out that the family is in real need of help after they accumulated debt, taking out loans from banks and from people. He however did not specify an exact time in which the ministry would provide assistance to the family.
The family has clarified that their need for help only includes financial aid to pay back their debts.
“If we pay back our loans my mother will feel relieved and we all would live in peace,” said the young woman.
The family has developed financial need after their father stopped supporting them 12 years ago. In search for a better life the family moved from Tabuk to Madinah but the siblings failed to find jobs and all responsibilities remained in the hands of the mother who works as a clerk in an educational institution. “My father abdicated his responsibilities, so my mother had to take full care of us, but money has always been a problem,” said the young woman. “My mother has been taking care of the six of us, the rent, the bills and all other expenses. She has always hoped to raise some cash to pay back some of her debts, which have now risen to SR250,000.”
Arab News contacted the social security office in Madinah but no one was available to comment on the issue.
