Samar Al-Mogren Al-Jazirah I read the statement of Maj. Gen. Sulaiman Al-Yahya, director general of Passports Department, on plans to introduce new controls for the travel of Saudi women without the permission of their guardians. However, the statement did not give any details except that a letter should be issued by the court specifying the reasons for departure and travel. This criterion might be good in some cases that are being looked into by the courts, but I cannot imagine that in order to get this right every woman must go to the court to get a letter issued. Also, the courts are already overwhelmed with many cases. I do not think they have time to issue such letters. Therefore, as long as there is an intention by the Passports Department to make amendments that will contribute to women getting their right in the issuance and renewal of passports and to cross the borders without prior approval of their guardians, I suggest that a good start would be by introducing the matter as an option. My aim is that restoring this lost right to women should be gradual. Through “Abshir” (the Ministry of Interior's online service) the woman's guardian should give consent that these matters should be in the woman's hands. In this case, the woman's guardian has given his consent on this matter. So there is no legal justification to prevent it. Besides, this preliminary step will provide us wide room in measuring social thought and the degree of trust in women. Not only this, but it will be an important index that will lead us to do away with scores of studies to know how far the Saudi man has reached in his attitudes toward women. I also have another suggestion that will help in these controls. That is, all women should be allowed to get their passports issued and renewed so that they can travel abroad. Whoever has an objection to this decision should visit the Passports Department to stop granting this right to women under his guardianship. He should have a logical justification to prevent the women from obtaining this right. I know that the first suggestion is easier and more implementable than the second, but I find myself forced to think loudly in order to reach controls that do not lower women's status, always place them in the status of shortcomings and suspicions and that they remain hostages for men forever. What I see and hear is that there are guardians who trade in these permits and exploit women. There are guardians who do not allow women to travel unless they pay a certain amount. They do not renew women's passports unless they pay an amount. There are others who are drug addicts and their women's money goes to purchasing drugs. Is this justice? The Passport Department's announcement that new regulations will be issued soon concerning women's travel is a good step, but I think the condition to get a letter issued by the court will not be an easy matter. Can the court issue a letter to a woman who wants to travel with her children for recreation? I stress that the conditions should take into consideration all women of different statuses and circumstances. They must remember that the discontent about the guardian's approval is not necessarily a matter that concerns a category of women, but it also concerns women whose guardians let them travel freely. Here, women want to avail of their independence and being treated as human beings. I express my thanks and appreciation to the Passports Department that felt the magnitude of the problem and is working on amending it. I hope that the amendments will be radical and take into consideration that a woman is a human being.
