Manama: Saudis have urged their country’s authorities to allow entry to two Saudi children who have lost their parents.
Jannat and Mohammad were born in Iraq to Mazen Al Masawi, a Saudi man who was executed in the summer by Iraqi authorities, and an Iraqi mother who died.
The orphans stayed with their maternal grandmother in Iraq, but when their father was executed in August, the family in Saudi Arabia said they wanted them to come home.
“The maternal grandmother took Jannat and Mohammad from Iraq to Jordan where she met the late Mazen’s relatives,” said Thamer Al Bulaihad, from a Saudi legal consultancy office.
“The Saudi family took custody of the two children and contacted their embassy in Amman to apply for the passports that will allow them to enter Saudi Arabia. However, they have not heard anything from the diplomatic mission yet even though they applied more than 17 days ago,” Al Bulaihad said in remarks published by Saudi news site Sabq on Wednesday.
However, Hamad Al Hajiri, the deputy head of mission, said that the Saudi family did not have any evidence that Jannat and Mohammad were Al Masawi’s children.
No official documents
“There are no official documents [proving that] they are his children,” he said. “The mother has died and there is no evidence that proves that the marriage was as per the rules,” he said.
The diplomat added that the issue had been transferred to the foreign ministry.
In their comments, Saudi bloggers pushed for issuing passports for the two children.
“This is a humanitarian case and it should be resolved quickly, away from any form of bureaucracy,” Al Rokban posted.
Abu Asayel suggested running a DNA test to determine whether that they are Al Masawi’s children and allow them into Saudi Arabia without delay.
Compassion
“We appreciate the need for the passports, but they are just kids,” Sami wrote. “When it comes to such matters, we need compassion and a golden heart because they are two orphans waiting in a foreign country. Their case can be resolved in one day.”
Fahad Al Ahmadi said that humanitarian considerations should rise above everything else. “There are exceptions to all rules and this is such a case,” he posted.
Comments that opposed granting Jannat and Mohammad the passports or documents to enter Saudi Arabia put the blame on their father.
“Some Saudis travel abroad and get married and then they leave behind serious problems. They are wrong,” Muzayyan wrote.
For BuNassef, the father is the root of the problem. “Some parents make life so difficult for their children,” he wrote.
