The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) is looking into the case of a woman whose father is denying her Saudi citizenship unless she leaves her Yemeni husband of 35 years and their ten children. Ubaida Al-Shibil, a legal researcher from the NSHR, contacted Haila Al-Najrani on Tuesday to say that her case was being looked at after the press brought it to the attention of the NSHR. Saudi Gazette reported on March 16 that Haila's father, who became a Saudi national 28 years ago, was refusing to include her on his family identity card unless she left her family, despite being ordered to do so by the regional Emir's office four years ago. Al-Shibil told Haila that the NSHR was determined to “follow the case to its conclusion”. Haila'a failure to convince her father to include her on the family identity card and thereby give her official citizenship led to family squabbles that passed through the courts and the jailhouse as she refused to abandon her family. Her father colluded with one of her brothers and told the Passports Department that she and her family were Yemenis living illegally in the Kingdom, leading to their detention for 12 days. Haila then took her father to court, where he denied she was his daughter, although witnesses repudiated his statement and the judge ordered that DNA tests be done. “When the DNA proved I was his daughter the courts in Najran issued me with lineage deeds and said I was entitled to Saudi nationality, and the Emir's Office ordered my father to include me on the card,” Haila said. “That was four years ago, and it still hasn't been done,” she said. Haila now says that with the help of the NSHR she hopes the situation “can be resolved as quickly as possible”.
