With a fluent Lebanese accent, Al-Dossary spoke to Arab News about his continuous efforts to find a way back to his father to obtain a sense of belonging to his family back in the Kingdom. And, perhaps most important, his failing efforts to obtain citizenship and a Saudi passport, which required his biological father's recognition of paternity.
His situation is made worse because Lebanon doesn't recognize him as a citizen, either. As in most Arab countries, citizenship is inherited through the father.
“I am considered a stateless, because the system in Lebanon does not yet approve that children can obtain the Lebanese mother's citizenship,” he pointed out.
Khaled claims he has contracted the Saudi Embassy in Lebanon and Awasser, a Saudi charitable society aimed at helping Saudi family members abroad, but he says they have not been helpful.
“I sent three e-mails to Awasser but they didn't get back to me,” he said. “When I called their head office, there was nothing but the answering machine.”
According to Al-Dossary, his father married his mother, who is of Palestinian origin with Lebanese nationality, when he was doing business in Lebanon. Later he moved back to Saudi Arabia, taking with him the marriage contract and leaving nothing behind.
“Even my father's relative who lives in Lebanon claimed that he knows nothing about my dad,” said Al-Dossary.
He turned the Internet to find out more about his father, but the family name is common and the search turned up no relevant information. He also called on the officials to help him though DNA test to reconnect with his biological father.
In order to be allowed to go to school, Al-Dossary's mother associated his name with a Lebanese man and, through him, he obtained the Lebanese citizenship. But after the man passed away his family contested the claim he was the biological father. Subsequently, his citizenship was revoked in 1997 and he was denied further education.
“I was able to complete a diploma but could not go to college or get a proper job. Currently I'm unemployed can't even get married and have my own family,” said Al-Dossary. “I'm literally stuck.”
Speaking previously to the local Tawfeeq Al-Suwailim daily, the president of Awasser said the organization was able to repatriate 24 Saudi families consisting of 72 members. Families, he said, are brought from Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria, Egypt and Morocco.
Al-Suwailim added that they are now taking care of 691 families consisting of 1,983 members in 24 countries whom the organization was unable to repatriate.
The organization has an annual budget of SR6.5 million.
