RIYADH: A girl and her brother have been deprived of their rights including education and inheritance for lack of Saudi IDs after the death of their parents eight years ago, local media said.

Omnia Hasan told an online paper that her Saudi father, retired security man Hasan Abdullah, married her Egyptian mother. Her father visited them from time to time. She attended one of the Egyptian universities after successfully completing her secondary education while her brother completed secondary school.

Later, their father decided to bring the family to the Kingdom to live with him in Makkah. In Cairo, he managed to get all required papers from the Saudi Embassy to facilitate their entry into the Kingdom. As soon as they arrived in the Kingdom eight years ago, the father approached the Civil Status Department to correct their status, she said. The father presented all documents and repeatedly visited the Civil Status Department to have their status corrected.

During this time, they were shocked to hear about the death of their mother in Egypt. The father tried to obtain permission for the children to attend her funeral, but failed. Forty days later, the father passed away following a heart attack, she said.

Omnia said that they have suffered a lot since the death of their parents and are deprived of education, employment and treatment in government hospitals due to delay in issuing identity papers, applications for which have been pending with the Civil Status Department for eight long years. Her brother is working in a minor job with a monthly salary of SR1,200, half of which goes to pay rent for their accommodation, she said.