JEDDAH — A six-year-old girl who has been living with her non-biological mother after she was abandoned as a baby is facing deportation, Makkah daily reported. Her biological mother, an Arab expatriate, was raped by a Saudi man over six years ago and got pregnant as a result, sources said. Although the court proved at the time through DNA evidence whom the father was, he refused to accept the girl as his daughter. Courts cannot use DNA as conclusive evidence. As the father refused to accept any responsibility, the Arab mother decided to abandon her baby near a dumpster in Jeddah. A woman found the girl and decided to take her home. However, six years later, this woman found out she had broken the law when she contacted the Ministry of Social Affairs for permission to become the legal guardian of the girl. The ministry told her the regulations of the Interior Ministry stipulate that a child born out of wedlock to a non-Saudi woman should be deported together with his or her mother. Shocked, the woman refused to take the child to the deportation center and filed a request at the Jeddah General Court asking for guardianship rights over the girl. The court contacted the Ministry of Social Affairs for approval but the latter rejected the request under the pretext that it was against the law. The ministry told the court the biological mother of the girl is still alive and has been identified and the regulations needed to be strictly observed. The girl needed to be handed over to the authorities, the ministry said. The woman tried to find a solution with several authorities but to no avail. It is also believed the biological mother has said she would kill the girl if she is returned to her because she did not want the child. The biological mother relinquished her guardianship as well as custody rights. Abdullah Al-Tawee, director of Social Affairs in Jeddah, said such cases are dealt with based on the regulations issued by the Interior Ministry. He said the regulations are clear and the girl cannot stay with the woman because her biological mother is still alive. The Ministry of Social Affairs cannot do anything but enforce the regulations.
