Mulahadha” teenage detention center in Jeddah has said that approximately 50 percent of inmates are non-Arabic-speaking Africans. According to Fayez Al-Shahrani the next largest groups of detainees consist of Burmese nationals and Yemenis. “70 percent of all inmates have been convicted of crimes involving theft and robbery,” Al-Shahrani said. “Most of the others are in for crimes against public morality and drug-related offenses.” Six inmates, all aged between 13 and 18, have been charged with involvement in murder. “The Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution has recently opened an office at the center to speed up trials of minors, and these are attended by judges from the Ministry of Justice who work with us on a daily basis and rotate every four months,” he said. Any underage person detained by one of the various authorities has his case heard at the center's court, and if charges are proven then he is transferred to the department for detainees. “We only accept an inmate if he has been officially arrested by a relevant authority such as the police, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai'a), the Anti-Drugs Unit or the Passports Department, and presented with specific charges,” he said. Al-Shahrani said that efforts are being made to address issues concerning accused teenagers aged 12 to 15 by trying to resolve judicial procedures “as quickly as possible” and avoid detention “unless absolutely necessary”, or transferring them to social guidance centers. “There have been calls to codify prison rulings for minors and for alternative penalties for some minor offenses, as well as to introduce regulations to deport foreign teen offenders in accordance with exchange laws so they can carry out their sentences in their home countries,” he said. “Some foreign offenders don't want to leave and would prefer to remain inmates, while we have certain problems in providing education for non-Arabic speakers. We've begun teaching them the Qur'an so they can understand the language.” Emir tackles family rejection Al-Shahrani recognized, however, that the Ministry of Social Affairs had resolved “a lot of former problems” at Dar Al-Mulahadha. “There were cases of inmates having completed their sentences but couldn't be released because their families refused to take them back in their care,” he said. “The Emir's Office, however, issued orders obliging families to take their sons back. Some cases were also resolved by the Reconciliation Committee.” Statistics say that keeping a minor detained at the center costs the state between SR130,000 and SR150,000 a year in living and accommodation costs, education, medical treatment, staff, support services and center activities. The most costly part of the operation, Al-Shahrani said, is education. “We have a school which teaches all three levels of the Ministry of Education curricula as taught in public schools on the outside, and half of the foreign pupils we teach are illiterate when they arrive here,” he said. The complex also contains a health clinic with a doctor available three times a week and other medical staff who are brought in through coordination with Health Affairs. The ageing facilities at Dar Al-Mulahadha are due to undergo renovations in the near future. “A company has been contracted to work on the school, the activities hall, and the office areas once the inmate residence building has been renovated,” he said. “The problem is that the center was designed 30 years ago to house under-18s of Saudi nationality but the number of residents has gone up due to the continual increase in foreigners coming in.” He noted, however, that the center is subject to continual inspections by the Prison Monitoring Administration, and that it had “not received a single negative note of criticism”. As for the reason for inmates' arrivals at Dar Al-Mulahadha, Al-Shahrani put it down to “dysfunctional families, a lack of monitoring of behavior, excessive severity and over
