Atwi family has left no stone unturned since they have arrived in the Kingdom seven years ago to get their national identity cards. “My father, Saudi national Suleiman Al-Atwi, married my mother 36 years ago in Egypt and had five children, three boys and two girls, but he did not obtain the consent of the authorities in the Kingdom to the matrimony because he was not aware of the procedures,” says Eid, the eldest son. “The status quo continued until 2001 when a new law allowed Saudis married to foreign women abroad to bring their families to the Kingdom. My father, who was still alive at the time, approached the Saudi Embassy in Egypt and obtained entry visas for the three boys, Eid, Aouda and Mahmoud.” Eid's sisters, Fatima and Noura, followed two years later, but during their stay their mother developed a serious illness and was denied access to public hospitals because she did not have Saudi nationality. She subsequently died and was buried in Egypt. Following the death of their father Suleiman, all attempts by the Atwis to obtain national identification papers were in vain. “Our father left us without IDs and we weren't able to get an education because no school would accept us without IDs,” Eid laments. “The General Organization of Social Security also rejected our applications for the same reason,” he said. “For more than seven years the answer has always been the same. Whenever we contact the Ministry of Interior we are told to speak to the Passports Department in Diba to find out if the ministry has issued identification cards for us.” Noura and Fatima have further problems of their own. Without identification papers they have not been able to get married. “We have had several proposals, but suitors annul the engagements when they find out we have no IDs. It has been really hard for us to deal with this situation.” When asked about the Atwi's case, an official at Civil Status office in Tabuk said: “We have been following up their application with the Civil Status Agency in Riyadh, but so far we haven't received any response.”
