SOURCE : ARAB NEWS
Saudi mother in the lurch after Bahrain airport birth
MANAMA - MAR 10:: A Saudi mother who gave birth to a baby boy at Bahrain International Airport last month has been left in the lurch as Saudi authorities have reportedly declared her marriage null and denied her entry.
Mariam Yousif Al-Shoaibi has been stranded in Bahrain for over a week while she waits for the green light to enter the Kingdom with her baby. The 33-year-old woman is married to an Ethiopian national who works in Qatar.
The man is now trying to acquire a visa for his wife and child from the authorities in Qatar.
The Saudi woman was a transit passenger on her way from Qatar to Riyadh last month. Al-Shoaibi was with her father waiting for a Gulf Air flight. The mother gave birth to a healthy boy named Isa, weighing about 3 kg, at the transit lounge under the supervision of doctors at the Airport Medical Clinic.
This was the second delivery at the airport and the first this year. In 2006, a Pakistani woman became the first to deliver a baby at the Bahrain airport.
According to reports, Saudi authorities have declared the marriage illegal and the baby a foreigner.
As a health protocol in Bahrain, a birth certificate is issued after a couple produces a valid marriage certificate signed by religious leaders and witnesses at the hospital.
Health officials, when contacted yesterday, refused to confirm whether the Saudi mother had been issued a birth certificate. “This is a special case and we are working with concerned authorities to expedite the process from our end,” said one official.
Saudis wanting to marry non-Saudis must first obtain marriage permits from the Ministry of Interior, but this can take months to years. However, couples who do not want to go through the bureaucratic labyrinth get married with the help of religious leaders who are ready to conduct the rites of an Islamic nikah. Such marriages are legal according to Shariah, but not acceptable under Saudi rules.
Recently the Saudi Ministry of Interior rejected a request by the Shoura Council for relaxing rules governing marriages between Saudis and non-Saudis.
According to Saudi Arabia’s intermarriage bylaw, relevant official documents, including medical records, identification papers and the marriage request, must be submitted to the Interior Ministry to issue a marriage permit.