Courts endorse marriage of 46 African women to Saudis

JEDDAH — Civil courts in the Kingdom have endorsed 46 nuptial contracts of African women married to Saudis during the past two years. Sudanese women topped the list with 16 contracts, followed by Eritreans 12, Nigerians 9, Ethiopians 5 and two each for Malians and Chadians, a Justice Ministry official was quoted by Al-Watan daily as saying.

“The number of Saudis married to American women has declined to seven while with British women was the lowest (two) during the same period,” he added.
A Justice Ministry official, meanwhile, pointed out that a new law is being enacted to punish those who violate the rules related to marriage of foreign men and women.

“The punishment will be applied on those who marry foreigners without registering it with the Saudi Embassy if the marriage took place abroad or the Civil Status Department if the marriage took place inside the Kingdom,” the official said.

Lawyer Rayan Mufti, a legal consultant, said the Interior Ministry has set out a law to regulate Saudis marrying foreigners.

“At present there is no punishment for Saudis marrying foreigners without documenting it either at Saudi missions abroad or the Civil Status Department in the Kingdom,” he said.

Children born to these couples will be the main victims of this violation as they will face a lot of issues in the future due to non-documentation of their parents’ wedding.

He said the majority of undocumented foreign wives inside the Kingdom belonged to military officers as well as girls who are below the legal age for marriage.

Many Saudi students abroad marry foreign women without registering their wedding with Saudi missions, fearing that it would affect their foreign scholarship program. As a result they leave their wives and children in foreign countries.

“Saudis who have married foreign women without documenting it at Saudi missions abroad will be tried at the Court of Grievances and will not be allowed to bring their families to the Kingdom,” Mufti said while explaining the existing law. “The resident permits of foreign husbands or wives will be canceled if the marriage had taken place inside the Kingdom,” he added.

Dr. Ibrahim Mubarak Al-Juwair, a sociology professor, emphasized the importance of the couple’s homogeneity for continuation of marriage.
“An individual who marries a foreign man or woman should have the ability to adjust and make sacrifices,” he told the Arabic daily.

“Some Saudis will marry foreign women because of some temptations. In most cases such marriages will not last long because of various differences,” Al-Juwair said.

“Many families accept such foreign marriages to realize material interests or due to other reasons without thinking about its consequences,” he explained.

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