JEDDAH: The government last year helped over 2,000 children overcome circumstances that forced them to beg or work illegally.

The number of children who got help to overcome was 2,039 last year, of which the proportion of the Saudi children was 16 percent against 84 percent non-Saudis, according to Naif Al-Subhi at the Ministry of Social Affairs. In a recent statement to media, Al-Subhi said the phenomenon of forcing children to beg or work illegally was a crime which the concerned bodies in the Kingdom are seeking to eliminate.

According to statistics available with the ministry, the Kingdom is currently having 12,300 orphans, of which 8,600 live in foster families, 1,300 in nursery education facilities and 2,400 in charitable institutions at 18 shelter homes in the main regions of the Kingdom.

The family and social welfare department at the ministry prepares shelters and social welfare institutions to receive and lodge citizens in need of care in a family-like environment. Basic requirements and necessities of life, including clothing, education, athletic and psychological and social programs and activities, are provided at the shelters.

Preschool facilities also provide comprehensive care for orphaned children and persons of unknown parents from birth to age 6.

The nursery and preschool facilities provide meals and food under the supervision of medical and health specialists. Clothing and a monthly bank deposit for each individual child from the day he or she enters the shelter are also provided.

Social education is provided for those in the shelters from the age of 6 until 18. All shelters are provided with qualified and specialist cadres in the field of psychology, social care, doctors, supervisors and others. The number of educational houses in the Kingdom is 13, of which 9 are for boys and 4 for girls.

The ministry provides foster home care services where orphans are sent to a substitute family to take care of them. Each foster family receives a monthly subsidy of SR2,000 for fostering children less than 6 years, and SR3,000 for children over 6 years of age. When the fostering term ends, the family receives an amount of SR20,000 as a reward.