Manama: Saudi Arabia has suspended an electronic notification system to alert families about the departure or arrival of their female relatives.
“The system is currently suspended following some observations and there will be amendments,” Ahmad Al Luhaidan, the spokesperson for the General Directorate for Passports, has said, quoted by local daily Al Sharq on Monday.
New options are expected to be added to the system, he added.
“In the past, the system included all the names that were registered. However, in the next phase, the names will be optional. The amendments will seek to enhance the system to make better and fulfil all the objectives for which it was set in the first place,” he said.
Under the system adopted by the Saudi passports authority, a short text message is sent to the male guardian to alert him whenever a female member of his family or a child is crossing the border into or out of Saudi Arabia.
The decision had caused furore among both supporters and opponents. Those who endorsed the move saw it as a wise use of modern technology to help families keep track of the across-the-border movements of their womenfolk and young children. They also hailed it as a positive step towards eliminating bureaucratic paper work that required the guardians to sign permissions.
However, those who opposed it said that it restricted the freedom of women and was discriminatory in its nature.
A blogger, writing under the moniker Habibi, praised the system as a consolidation of family ties.
“Without such a system, a woman or a child would be free to come and go and travel abroad without her or his family knowing about it,” he posted. “If such is the case, we will find many of the women and children abroad while their relatives are not aware of it,” he said.
Bu Nawas, another blogger, said that only those who have something to hide would not support the notification system.
“Those who have nothing to hide and are clear about their behaviour do not have to worry, whereas those who are not sure of what they are doing would object,” he posted. “There is no reason to reject a notification alert.”
However, Suhair Adel, a blogger who rejected the system, said that it was humiliating for women.
“This is total confusion,” she posted on Al Sharq’s website. “What the difference between women and men in this point? Is it possible for my brother who is younger than me by ten years to be informed about my cross-border movements while I know nothing about his destinations? There is obvious chaos in the application of the law,” she said.
Budoor Al Saleh said that it was not acceptable to equate women and children.
“Why are you pushing us in the same category as children? Men should in this case be also included in the scheme,” she said.
Salwa, another bogger, said that since the aim of the notification system is to provide a good service for families, men should also be included to augment the advantages.
“I am sure that many problems will be solved if women were aware of their husbands’ cross-border movements as well,” she said. “In fact, women would benefit from the system much more than men. So, please include them and alert their wives about their international departures and arrivals,” she said.
A young man who identified himself as an overseas student said that the system had spoiled the surprise he and his sister had planned.
“My sister and I are students abroad and one day we wanted to surprise our family by arriving into Saudi Arabia without telling them,” he said. “However, the plan fell through after they were alerted via SMS that we had arrived in the Kingdom. We were truly disappointed.”
