Nine days after being mistakenly deported to Yemen with illegal entrants to the Kingdom for a second time, 42-year-old Ahmad Hassan Shoukani was returned Sunday to his family in the village of Al-Suleil. Shoukani, who according to his family suffers from mental problems, was finally spotted by acquaintances in the border town of Haradh, and after extensive searches by distraught relatives was found asleep, hungry and thirsty, in a ditch. Family members have now called for those responsible for his deportation to be held responsible for their actions. “The hospital for the mentally ill in Jizan should also take care of him,” a brother said. “He requires intensive treatment, especially after his condition worsened due to being sent to Yemen along with other deportees.” Illegal entrants to the Kingdom are frequently picked up by the authorities in the remote Dhamad region, and Ahmad Shoukani's state of health leaves him unable to provide evidence of his identity. A brother of Shoukani absolved regional police on Friday of any responsibility, saying, “they know he is a Saudi national and that he has psychological problems” but would like to put an end to Ahmad's plight. “This is the second time he has been deported, which may be due to the fact that he is difficult to communicate with,” he said. “He just happens to be in an area where security is tight.”
