Three Saudi children stranded in Syria have been saved from their desperate plight further to a report in the Saudi Gazette two days ago. The young children fled to Jordan with their mother hoping to secure eventual refuge in the Kingdom with their father. Unfortunately the Syrian mother's pleas for help from her ex-husband and his family were unsuccessful and she turned to the Saudi embassy in Amman as a last resort. The embassy reported the case to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Kingdom. They immediately took steps to contact the father and requested that he assumes responsibility for his children's safety as soon as possible. The three children – Muhammad, Huda, and Monira – were reunited with their father after he collected them from Jordan. However, according to a follow up story in Al-Watan newspaper, he insisted on taking his children alone. The mother naturally refused to part with her children, but as a non-Saudi she could not travel to the Kingdom. To compound her misery still further he demanded full custody of the children given they are no longer under her care. The lawyer and legal counselor, Khalid Al-Rashed, said that she has the right to appeal to the courts in the Kingdom and apply for a visit visa. He thinks that a judge would rule in her favor and grant her a visa, and possibly even residence, so as not to separate the young children from their mother. Al-Rashed advised the Syrian mother to appoint a lawyer to assist her with the entire legal process.
