Abdo Khal

Okaz

There have been a number of government decisions that have remained dormant for a long time without being implemented. These decisions have been in deep slumber in the drawers of the concerned government departments. They will not wake up no matter how much noise we make about them.



The most prominent of these is the decision concerning the children of Saudi women married to foreigners.



All the decisions in this regard have made it clear that these children should be treated as Saudi citizens. In reality they are not. The decisions remained just ink on paper. The situation continues as it is without any change.



A number of official statements were made on the issue of equal treatment but the real facts of life nullify all these statements. An example for this is the treatment of children of Saudi mothers and foreign fathers at the Passport Department. The Ministry of Labor has given the Saudi mothers the right to sponsor her own children. A government decision said these children should be exempted from paying fees for the iqama issuance or transfer.



However, the Passport Department did not implement the decision and is still charging fees. The fees are too high to bear for some mothers, especially the unemployed ones. Therefore, it is imperative that the decision exempting the children of Saudi mothers and foreign fathers from iqama fees should be implemented without delay.



The Passport Department should also stop writing on the iqamas of these children the statement that they are “working as sons and daughters with their mother”. This phrase should never be used by a government department that should look instead for a more humane alternative. Why not simply write on the iqamas of these children that “they are sons and daughters of a Saudi mother” instead of working for their mother?



The same thing applies to foreign women married to Saudis. Instead of writing on her iqama that she is working for her husband, just mention that she is the wife of a Saudi.



The issue of naturalization is an old one, which is being dealt with very slowly. Many families have been suffering from this problem. Their sons and daughters were born in the Kingdom and did not know any other home but still they are not considered Saudi citizens. This problem should be resolved immediately instead of protracting it for long years without any real solution.