Dec 09 2011 |
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Kids of unknown parenthood in KSA are accorded full citizenship rights: Official
JEDDAH: Children born in Saudi Arabia but are of unknown parenthood will be considered fully-fledged Saudi citizens, Arabic daily Al-Watan reported Thursday quoting a senior official at the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Abdullah Al-Yousuf also denied reports that these children were given incomplete civil records specially designed for them.
"Children born in the Kingdom to unknown parents have every right to citizenship. They receive equal treatment like other citizens," the undersecretary said. "It is not true that they are given incomplete civil records specially made for them," he added.
Al-Yousuf said families who were given orphans to look after would usually return them to the ministry when they reached the age of 12 because they could not be mahrams, or close relatives of the family. "We often try to convince these families to keep the orphans with them but when they refuse, we take them to shelter homes," he explained.
The undersecretary said the ministry was keen to provide orphans with a high quality of education and usually sends them to complete their higher education abroad as part of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah's foreign scholarship program. "Children of unknown parenthood are not discriminated against in education, health care, employment and other services," he said.
He said when there were no vacant seats in government schools, the ministry will enroll abandoned children in private schools and pay their fees.
The undersecretary made it clear that the ministry does not have the right or the authority to employ abandoned children in government or private establishments but it does recommend them for employment in these establishments.
Al-Yousuf revealed that the ministry pays a monthly allowance of SR2,000 to orphans who are under school age and SR3,000 to those who are of school age. "The ministry also pays SR60,000 to any male or female orphan toward marriage expenses," he said.
© Arab News 2011
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