JEDDAH, 15 April 2006 — A Shoura Council member has urged the consultative body to study problems faced by foreign wives and children of Saudis who abandon them abroad when returning to the Kingdom.
“It is a pressing issue worrying several families who have been left in Arab countries, such as Syria and Egypt,” said council member Hamad ibn Al-Dueij.
Al-Dueij criticized failure of the council’s foreign affairs committee to address the problem. “Some Saudi men marry while visiting Arab countries. But they return to the Kingdom leaving the wives and children behind. In several documented cases, the wives and children have been totally forgotten leaving the Saudi missions in those countries to fend for them,” Al-Jazirah newspaper quoted Al-Dueij as saying.
He also demanded that the council study the issue thoroughly and follow it up to find appropriate solutions, the newspaper said.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has ordered that cash allowances be paid to Saudi children abandoned abroad by their fathers.
The Shoura member appreciated efforts of Saudi press to draw the attention of the authorities to the problems of such families.
The issue of Saudi children abandoned abroad has been increasingly discussed in the media lately.
In February, a group of Moroccan women gathered at the entrance to the Saudi Embassy in Rabat to draw attention to their plight.
