JEDDAH: Orphans with African or Oriental features are less likely to be adopted compared to children with Arab features, said Ali Al-Hinaki, general manager of the Ministry of Social Affairs in Makkah.
In a wide-ranging interview, Al-Hinaki said orphans with non-Arab features end up remaining in orphanages, as a result of which, they often develop mental problems. He added that such orphans become slack in pursuing their studies, gaining employment or getting married.
Al-Hinaki said there are four orphanages housing young children in Riyadh, Jeddah, Hassa and Al-Rass. He said that when the orphans get older, boys are sent to one of the 12 orphanages for older boys while girls are sent to any one of the three orphanages for girls in Riyadh, Jeddah and Al-Rass.
When asked why there are fewer orphanages for girls compared to boys, Al-Hinaki said this was because families prefer to adopt girls to boys. Commenting on the mistreatment of orphans at orphanages, he said, “We keep telling the workers that they will receive huge rewards from God by dealing kindly with orphans. We tell them to keep smiling and to reward children rather than punishing them.” Al-Hinaki, however, did not specify the type of punishments orphans are given.
Asked if the Social Affairs is responsible for divorces among orphan couples, as the Ministry of Social Affairs is the body that organizes marriages among orphans when they reach marriageable age, he said, “Some say that the ministry has failed in helping orphans get married.”
He added that academics at Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University are currently carrying out a study to ascertain whether the rate of divorce is higher among orphan couples than couples who are not orphans.
Al-Hinaki said girls who get divorced return to the orphanage and that the Ministry of Social Affairs then look for husbands for them. He added that there is an urgent need for orphans to take courses on married life before and after getting married. According to the Ministry of Social Affairs’ website, the ministry has helped 1,070 orphans get married. Al-Hinaki also criticized a National Society for Human Rights’ (NSHR) report on juvenile detention centers in the Kingdom, adding that it is full of false information. The NSHR has documented violations in such centers saying youths are beaten, and that the centers are unsuitable for living and lack cleanliness, and that minors are prevented from using bathrooms.
Al-Hinaki said he has reports from the Human Rights Commission (HRC) denying the allegations. However, speaking to an Arabic newspaper recently on juvenile inmates in detention centers, he said, “The majority of inmates (of juvenile detention centers) have violated the Kingdom’s laws. They are non-Saudis and are physically strong; if they are given the chance to relax and get pampered unpleasant things would occur.”
There are 14 juvenile detention centers in the Kingdom. Boys, between the ages of 12 and 18, are kept in two such centers according to their ages. Females between the ages of 12 and 30 are kept together in detention centers.
Asked why women are kept in detention centers and not sent to prisons, Al-Hinaki said, “It would be inappropriate to house women who have committed minor crimes with women who have committed serious crimes such as prostitution.”
When asked if there is a plan to make a separate shelter to house minors who have committed murder, Al-Hinaki said, “Murders are few; such minors would be transferred to prison when they turn 18.” Asked why some women remain in protection shelters with girls as young as 12, he said such occurrences are the exception. He further denied that abused girls and women are kept in protection shelters, as reported by some sections of the media. Speaking about the NSHR’s Jawhara Al-Angari’s visit to a protection shelter and her comments, Al-Hinaki said, “The shelter was repaired (as she had suggested) and we have benefitted from every suggestion that is useful.”
The Ministry of Social Affairs is also in charge of homes for the elderly. There are 10 such homes in the Kingdom housing 1,000 people. “Sixty-five percent of residents have no family, 35 percent are mentally ill and were previously in mental hospitals. Such people are usually transferred to elderly homes as their families refuse to accept them,” he said.
He added that Jeddah is to also soon have an old age home.
Speaking about the General Rehabilitation Center for Girls in Jeddah, which has been accused of being unclean, and where workers are accused of maltreating children, and children with mental problems are living with children with physical disabilities, Al-Hinaki said, “A new building is now being constructed... the new center would be able to house 1,200 disabled children of both genders. This would reduce the clustering problem. Another center is to be built in Qunfuda and would be able to house 300 disabled children.”
