Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — One of the girls who had escaped from a hospitality home in Jeddah two months ago has been found, the Ministry of Social Affairs has said. "Three girls escaped from Jeddah Hospitality Home two months ago. They were arrested and returned to the center. The girls made a second escape but only two of them were caught," said Makkah Social Affairs spokesman Abdullah Al-Tawi. Al-Tawi said the girl was currently under interrogation. "She is being held at Girls Care Center in Makkah but arrangements are under way to bring her back to Jeddah Hospitality Home. The directorate is studying the phenomenon of girls escaping from their only haven," said Al-Tawi. He said these girls had nowhere else to go and the hospitality homes were supposed to be their shelter away from home and society. "The residents of the home should not think of escaping. Each one of them had escaped from her home or had been rejected by their family. The three girls had planned their escape carefully and left through one of the windows of the home during the change of shift by staff," said Al-Tawi. He said the directorate had assigned social worker Nisreen Taha to interrogate the girls and find out the reason why they keep escaping. National Society for Human Rights Director Saleh Al-Ghamdi said the girls needed emotional stability. "The social workers and psychologists need to work with the girls to improve their emotional health. The environment they are in needs to support the girls' health and give them a sense of stability. They need to feel they are cared. They need to receive quality services. Hopefully the incidents will force the directorate to improve the state of hospitality homes in general," said Al-Ghamdi.
