The Administrative Court at the Board of Grievances ruled on Saturday that the family of the Saudi boy who was swapped with a Turkish boy at a hospital in Najran six years ago does not deserve compensation from the Ministry of Health for the mistake it made. Abdullah Bin Rajab Aal Musharraf, the Saudi family's lawyer, expressed his regret at the court's decision, which he said was delivered before getting a response from the health minister. He said the verdict has worsened the psychological condition of the family, who thought the court would support them in their grievance. Aal Musharraf said: “We will appeal the verdict at the Court of Cassation.” Last Monday the Board of Grievances also refused to give any compensation to Turkish family in its case against the Ministry of Health. The two boys were allegedly mistakenly swapped shortly after they were born at a hospital in Najran in 2003. The lawsuits against the ministry were filed by the two fathers – Saudi national Muhammad Salim Aal Munajjim and Turkish resident Yusuf Juja. The boys were returned to their biological families after four years living with the wrong parents. Both boys, Yaqoub and Ali could not speak the language of their birth parents and reportedly struggled to adapt. Yaqoub is the Saudi boy now living with his biological family in Najran. He has had special classes arranged for him so that he can learn to speak Arabic. The lawyers of the families had said before the court's ruling that there was a causal relationship between the alleged error made by the Ministry of Health and the psychological harm inflicted on the two families. The Saudi father has reportedly been quoted saying he wants SR50 million from the ministry. The two lawyers said they had medical reports from specialist centers proving the poor psychological condition of the two families. They pointed out that the verdict issued by the General Court in Najran proves that an error was made by the Ministry of Health. The mistake was discovered by the Turkish father, Juja, who was doubtful that the baby boy handed to him in September 2003 was his son. When he returned to Turkey, he took DNA tests which proved the boy was not his biological son. This started a chain of events which included the Saudi authorities stepping in to search for his son. They eventually did and the boys were then swapped, causing a considerable degree of trauma to both families. Juja reportedly said that his wife cried constantly when the Saudi boy, Yaqoub, whom she had raised for four years, was returned to his family, even though she had her own son, Ali, returned to her.
