Khadijah Bawazeer The answer to that question is very complicated; as complicated as the lives of Saudi women married to non-Saudis and as painful as the lives of their kids who get surprised, when they are ready to join the country's workforce, that there is no place for them in the labor market. They are surprised by the new realities which neither they nor their mothers have opted for. These children, many of them have become young men and women, face a bleak future even if they are university graduates of distinction because fate has made it impossible for them to acquire a Saudi nationality or get a decent job in the country. They end up having to live the rest of their lives in the margins and realize that whatever teasing or ridicule they met in school was small play compared to their current dilemma. MBC TV ran an episode on this issue a few months ago. During the program, a 60-year-old Saudi physician who was called to narrate her ordeal said that the only option left for her son and daughter, a physician and a pharmacist, is to get residence permits that classify them as a driver and a maid. The lady said that when she got married to a non-Saudi more than 20 years ago, she had the permission of the Ministry of Interior and was told that the regulations stipulated that a male child would become a Saudi citizen after he reaches the age of 18 and that a daughter would be given a card that would make her a Saudi national if she marries a Saudi. Like thousands of Saudi women who are married to non-Saudis, the lady physician is worried that her two professional children, who were born and raised in the Kingdom, have been forced to face the difficult crossroads of their lives for no fault of their own — and certainly not of their parents either. How do you think the officials who participated in the program responded? They asked her a rhetorical question on why she did not think about the consequences of her decision to marry a non-Saudi. Their response flabbergasted me. It was as if they knew nothing about the complexity of the whole issue. It was as if she was accused of having done something illegal, as if she just ran after her desires, as if she knew then that the regulations would undergo changes that would complicate her life. Their ill-informed response was infuriating, if not downright insulting. It reflected a lack of understanding of the society they live in. There are many reasons that make a woman marry a non-Saudi. For one, there are family circumstances that would make a woman marry a man from the same family which has not acquired the Saudi nationality. How can such a woman consider her husband and children as foreigners? Obtaining a Saudi nationality has become harder over the years and is almost impossible lately. Many applicants for Saudi citizenship have been following up their applications for years to no avail. That left their families frustrated and felt abandoned. This brings me back to the same question for which there is no answer. These women abided by the law and have followed the regulations. The problem is that the regulations kept on changing. These women and kids did nothing to deserve this fate. We speak about women's rights, about treating women equally? What rights? The young men and women applying for Saudi nationality are mostly well-educated children of well-educated mothers. It would be good for the country to embrace them rather than leave a wound of anger and bitterness in their hearts. — The writer can be reached at khadijah_bawazeer@yahoo.com
