Muhammad Al-Ahmadi Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — At least 814 Saudis are unaccounted for in Syria, according to the chairman of the Society for the Welfare of Saudi Families Abroad (Awasser). Dr. Tawfeeq Al-Swailim said the society does not know anything about them because the Saudi Embassy in Damascus is closed, adding that the current political situation Syria is going through makes it difficult for the society to visit the war-torn country. Al-Swailim also noted that there are 6,564 Saudis living in 30 countries who cannot return to the Kingdom due to different social and economic factors. Most of them are Saudi sons and daughters left behind by their Saudi fathers. Many Saudi men get married abroad to non-Saudi women without getting permission from the Saudi authorities, Al-Swailim said. When those men have babies with their foreign wives, they leave them and the babies behind without support and return to the Kingdom. The society is having difficulty finding information about the Saudi fathers who left their families abroad. These marriages fail because of cultural differences, said Al-Swailim. To solve the problem of Saudi men who marry non-Saudi women abroad, the society has submitted a detailed study to the government focusing on two important points. First, the costs of marriage here should be reduced so men can afford to have a wife without paying a hefty dowry and exorbitant weddings expenses. Second, the conditions set for a Saudi man who wants to marry a non-Saudi woman abroad should be relaxed. Any Saudi man who cannot marry a Saudi woman here for health or social conditions should be allowed to get married to a non-Saudi woman abroad, he said. The society is facing difficulty as well locating Saudi families in war-torn countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina. So far the society has found information about three families with nine Saudi members born to Saudi fathers who traveled to the country during the war of the 1990s. Al-Swailim said: “We don't know if there are any other families with Saudi members in this country.” The society works on helping these families return to the Kingdom and integrate them into society. It also helps them obtain necessary official documents from the government and sends money to stranded families abroad. Speaking about the society's financial resources, Al-Swailim said the annual allocation set for the society used to be SR5 million but has increased to SR15 million following a 2011 royal decree issued by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
