Suleiman Al-Zayidi, supervisor general of the office, said the office had so far not received any reply for the letters it had sent to the authorities. He was reacting to a story published by Arab News on Saturday regarding the dismal condition of mentally sick people and abandoned elderly who have made the streets of the holy city their habitat.
Al-Zayidi said the increasing number of people with severe psychiatric problems on the streets and public places in Makkah has come to the notice of the NSHR office. “This prompted the office to write to the concerned authorities to address the problem. We have stressed that the problem of these people should be given top priority and that there should be serious efforts to take care of them,” he said while noting that leaving their problem unresolved is equal to oppressing their rights in addition to creating disturbance to the local residents.
According to Al-Zayidi, the relatives of these people shoulder a major responsibility to take care of them as well as to make proper treatment and rehabilitation available to them. He also pointed out that the NSHR is handling mainly issues and problems pertaining to families and workers, in addition to follow-up of cases involving human rights pending at courts. “The office is also taking up several other issues with the concerned agencies to resolve them. We have had positive response from these agencies for most of the problems that we had raised,” he said.
Al-Zayidi said officials from the NSHR office were holding periodic visits to the hospitals and shelter homes in the holy city as well as in the rural areas outside the city. “The office used to prepare reports with a focus on the shortcomings and lapses in services being extended by these facilities following the visits and then submitting the reports to Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal,” he said while noting that the governor attaches much importance to the reports presented by the office.
