SCCA warns against expat 'child smugglers'

The Saudi Child Care Association (SCCA) has warned against possible attempts by expatriates to smuggle Saudi children out of the country legally by utilizing the opportunity provided by the amnesty period decreed by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for irregular expatriates to normalize their work status or leave the Kingdom.
SCCA chief Matouq Al Sharief told local media that the amnesty period offered opportunities to expats to kidnap children and transport them abroad legally by taking advantage of the new labor laws. “Families should be vigilant and should always be mindful of their children’s whereabouts. Domestic help should not be allowed to take the children out during this period nor accompany them to the embassy,” he said, adding that once the children are taken out of the Kingdom, it would be difficult to retrieve them.
The warning comes in the wake of reports that the Indonesian Consulate in Jeddah is allowing the correction of children’s status and attaching them to their families without conducting any medical tests to establish parenthood.
Sharief urged for greater coordination between embassies in the Kingdom and the passport offices to eliminate the chances of children being smuggled out of the Kingdom. In addition, DNA and other medical tests should be conducted on children who are not born in hospitals and thereby do not possess necessary documents to establish the identities of their parents.
“In the event a birth certificate is submitted, it should match the fingerprint certificate of the child,” he added.
Noor Ibrahim, vice consul for culture and media affairs at the Indonesian Consulate, pointed out that the consulate does not insist on any test to prove parenthood. The presence of the child’s father is enough if he is an Indonesian national. However, if one of the child’s parents is a foreigner, then he/she must submit the marriage contract, birth certificates and other papers to obtain documentation, he said.
Regarding legal action that is taken by the Immigration Department toward children being deported, spokesman of the Directorate General of Passports in Saudi Arabia Col. Badr Al Malek said: “No special procedures are taken, except verifying the passport and then allowing them to depart.”