The Ministry of Social Affairs has sacked the director of Jazan orphanage following reports of worsening situation at the facility including complaints of ill-treatment.
Director General of the Social Affairs Salem Basahy said the restructuring of the orphanage’s administration is under way. He also appreciated the efforts of its former employees in the running of the establishment, Al-Watan daily reported yesterday.
The new orphanage director, Khaled Maafa, is experienced in the administration of welfare establishments. He has worked as director of the Community Development Center in Jazan.
In another development, Minister of Social Affairs Yusuf Al-Othaimeen ordered immediate steps to provide dignified accommodation to newly arrived housemaids.
Recently the media reported that newly recruited maids, who arrived at the Najran airport, were sent to jails of the Passport Department for their stay because there is no women’s shelter in Najran.
Najran Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah has demanded the minister arrange for women’s shelter in the province. Sending newly arrived housemaids to prison wards of the Passport Department just because the Ministry of Social Affairs does not have a shelter “is a clear violation of their dignity in a country that protects rights of everyone,” the prince said in a letter to the minister.
Stressing the need to establish a women’s shelter, the prince warned the minister that lack of a shelter will be exploited by some foreign organizations to tarnish the image of the Kingdom.
Director General of the branch of the Social Affairs Ministry in the province Muhammad Maafa said he has been ordered to take immediate steps to open a shelter in collaboration with charity organizations. He said the leading charity society in the province said in an earlier report that a shelter could be opened at the initial cost of SR 400,000 but later it revised the report increasing the cost to SR 1 million. After accepting the report in principle, the ministry said it did not have the financial means to open the shelter as it had other more pressing priorities.
However, Maafa assured the media that he would find a solution to the current problem in a week even if it involved renting a building.
Sheltering newly arrived housemaids at the Najran airport is not possible. according to the airport authorities. According to regulations, the Passport Department has to hand over a newly arrived foreign maid to her sponsor in person, who should be present at the airport when the maid arrives. But if the sponsor does not arrive at the airport, the Passport Department is supposed to send her to an authorized women’s shelter. Since there is no such shelter in Najran, the maids are being sent to the detention center.
Jazan orphanage chief sacked
