Although she had a Swedish passport, the woman in her 30s and originally of Palestinian origin cannot obtain an exit visa to leave the country without being on an iqama. She has no other papers. She has been forced to stay with friends in Jeddah since the divorce.
Her situation has been made worse by the fact that her husband not only struck her off his iqama, but also reportedly informed the passport police that she had escaped.
Foreigners accused of escaping from their sponsors can face various punishments under Saudi laws, including imprisonment and deportation. They will also be fingerprinted to prevent them from coming back before five years have passed.
The NSHR did not identify the Swedish woman, but said she asked for refuge and help to complete her exit procedures.
Swedish Ambassador Jan Theseff told Arab News the embassy needed to know more about the case. “If she is a Swedish citizen, we are obliged — and happy — to give her all the help to which she is entitled.” He urged the NSHR to put her in contact with him.
The NSHR said it had not been in touch with the embassy because the woman had requested help only to obtain accommodation and the necessary paperwork so she could travel abroad.
The society said it had been informed by the social affairs department she could have a place at a women’s shelter even though she did not fit the criteria. However, she has refused this, preferring to remain with her friends while her situation was being sorted out.
The society has renewed its request to the social affairs department in Makkah to provide homes for women in similar situations and make use of the recent directives by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
“There are a number of concerned organizations who monitor cases of foreign women married to Saudis or expatriates who have no relatives to go to when they are divorced and kicked out of their homes,” a statement from the society said, adding that there were also cases of foreign housemaids who have disputes with their sponsors and have no legal right to accommodation in social care homes.
The society hoped that the social affairs department would take the initiative to make arrangements with hotels and furnished apartments to accommodate women in such situations until a proper home was built for them.
The society further told Arab News that it was planning to hold a workshop with organizations usually involved in such cases to come up with a unified procedure to deal with women who are victims of family violence, especially with divorces on the rise.
One in three marriages in Saudi Arabia ends in divorce, the society said, quoting official statistics.
According to the statistics, 42 percent of married women aged between 20 and 30 end up getting divorced.
