Kenyan single mothers 'trapped' in Saudi Arabia as visas are denied to 'stateless' children

Kenyan single mothers in Saudi Arabia have been "trapped" in the country after being denied visas and birth certificates for their children in order to leave and return to their homeland.

Guardian spoke to five Kenyan women who explained their misery, saying that they have been unable to register the birth of their children as they were born outside marriage.

They said that they all fled abusive employers who then kept their identity documents.

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The women complained that they have been trying to leave the country as their children are unable to get enrolled in schools in Saudi Arabia without the documents. They added that they have also been told that exit visas cannot be processed because they have "stateless" children.

In Saudi Arabia, having sex outside marriage is a crime as per the Islamic laws. However, the human rights groups said that women are disproportionately charged for this since resulting pregnancies are considered evidence.

Moreover, survivors of rape or sex trafficking can be deemed to have confessed to extramarital sex and prosecuted.

Children born outside the marriagein Saudi Arabia are not entitled to birth certificates. Additionally, their undocumented status means that they cannot access basic rights and services, including medical care and education, and are also not allowed to travel outside the Kingdom.

These five women interviewed by Guardian shared that they had pregnancies during relationships with fellow migrant workers.

Hence, all these women became single mothers, meanwhile, some said that they were abandoned by their child's fathers because they feared getting arrested for having extramarital sex.

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Fatima, a migrant from Kenya who came to Saudi Arabia to be a domestic worker, said staff at her nearest hospital in the Saudi capital Riyadh threatened to call the police when she rushed there with labour pains, the Guardian reported.

“They said they would send me to jail if I didn’t bring [the necessary] documents. I was so afraid to go to jail with labour pains. I pretended like I was strolling around the hospital. Then, I just walked out of the gate and went back to my house," she said.

Fatima entered her accommodation in Riyadh, and gave birth to a son just five minutes after that. "I cut the umbilical cord and cleaned myself. I cleaned my baby and wrapped him in a blanket. It was scary, but I just had to do it. There was nobody else to help me.”

She added that she ran away from her employer's home because he was sexually assaulting her and was physically abusive. Moreover, the employer also seized her passport.

Moreover, she said that she has been trying to leave Saudi Arabia for the past two years because her son, who has now turned eight, has been unable to go to school.

“The authorities here are not too concerned about the babies and their mothers,” Fatima said.

Earlier in April, Fatima also staged a public protest in the Manfuhah neighbourhood in Riyadh, along with a group of other migrant mothers. However, protests are illegal in Saudi Arabia and punishable by imprisonment.

“We want our kids to go to school. They’re missing a lot in their early childhood education. It’s very important, and our babies are missing that opportunity.”

Meanwhile, migrant rights experts have estimated that the number of cases of stateless children born outside marriage in Gulf countries is in thousands, adding that every child has a right to identity and protection, regardless of how and when they were born.

(With inputs from agencies)