DUBAI: A Canadian woman says the Saudi Arabian government is refusing to issue passports for her children in order to leave the country, even though she says her husband has agreed to travel with her out of the ultra-conservative Gulf kingdom. According to Canada's National Post, Nathalie Morin, of Montreal, has been attempting to leave the country for the past 6 years, but her husband had refused to allow their children to return to Canada. In Saudi Arabia, a woman and children must have the permission of their male guardian, or husband, in order to travel outside the country. In November, Saeed al-Bishi agreed to give Morin permission to leave the country, but only if the Canadian embassy would grant him a temporary visa to accompany the family on the trip. That should have been enough to allow the woman to leave Saudi Arabia, but the government has apparently blocked the travel, refusing to give passports for the three children, one of whom was reportedly born in Canada. Morin, 27, sent an email to media organizations across North America this week asking Ottawa to intervene on her behalf. “We are ready to travel to Canada together, but the government of Saudi Arabia has refused to give passports to our children,” she said in the email. Morin claims Saudi officials have put her three children on a “national black list since 2009.” The couple had a child together in 2002, but Al Bishi was deported to Saudi Arabia that year for being in Canada illegally. After two visits to Saudi Arabia, Morin moved there in 2005 to try to build a happy family life for her son, but the situation soon turned ugly. International rights groups and activists have condemned the male guardianship system in Saudi Arabia, saying it must be removed in order to grant women the right to travel as they see fit. Monica Yussif, a British-Saudi woman and activist, told Bikyamasr.com that she believes the problem with Morin's case is that “the Saudi government wants to ensure the children remain in the country because they don't like to see Westerners win in these situations. It is sad, but the reality facing foreign women who marry Saudi nationals.” Morin, who lives in Dammam, 400 kilometres east of the capital, Riyadh, says she is held captive indoors, deprived of food and beaten. Morin's mother, Johanne Durocher, has been waging a battle to bring her daughter and grandchildren back to Canada, local Canadian newspapers report. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/8HMYK Tags: Canada, featured, Nathalie Morin, Travel Section: Human Rights, Latest News, Saudi Arabia, Women
