There has been an alarming rise in the number of expatriate and Saudi parents forcing their children and teenagers to give up school to work or beg to support their families, according to a local expert.

Virtually every working child has been forced by his or her family to leave school and make money, said Abdullah Marzouk, a social activist, here recently.

The Saudi Human Rights Commission must do more to tackle this situation, he said. “We must take good care of children so that they can become useful members of society.”

“The number of working children has increased over the past five years and the majority of them are beggars,” he said. He said this phenomenon includes expatriate and Saudi children.

Arab News found several car workshops in south Jeddah districts employing teenagers under the age of 18, who have not completed their high school education.

These youngsters, mostly from Yemen and African countries, cannot transfer their sponsorship and are therefore employed illegally. Their families have forced them to work.

Saeed Dahi, a 16-year-old from Yemen, said he stopped going to school after the elementary level and found a job. He said he works to help his family of eight to pay for their day-to-day living costs and rent.

He believes that learning how to repair cars is equivalent to gaining a university degree. Two of Dahi’s brothers are high school graduates but are still unemployed.

“The most important thing for me was to shoulder the responsibility from an early age and depend on myself to earn an income instead of taking pocket money from my brothers,” he said.

Dahi is typical of many young foreigners who have been forced by poverty to leave school and learn a trade.

However, many parents are exploiting their children by forcing them to leave school and make money.

Foreign children also sell fruit and vegetables on carts outside mosques. “I sell bottles of water and tissues at traffic signals,” said Salah Bayoumi, a 12-year-old Yemeni.

“This is simple work which does not interfere with my schooling. However, the increasing need for money may force me to quit school one of these days,” he said.

The vegetable and fish markets in the Eastern Province also employ underage children.

Human rights activist Waleed Al-Silais said these markets employ children under 16. “Many of these children should be at school but they want to help their needy families face the hardships of life,” he said.

Saudi Arabia and the International Labor Organization (ILO) signed an agreement last month to set the basic minimum age for work at 15. Labor Minister Adel Fakeih and ILO Director General Guy Ryder signed the deal in Riyadh.

The agreement obliges the Kingdom to ban children under this age from working and requires them to finish compulsory schooling.