27 families stranded abroad return home to rectify status

JEDDAH — Awasir, the charitable society working for the welfare of Saudis living abroad, has facilitated the return of 27 families who had not been registered as Saudi citizens to the Kingdom. A source at Awasir said the families totaled 61 members and they had to return to the Kingdom to rectify their status. “Awasir supports Saudi families living abroad. It spent a total of SR8.6 million last year; 96.7 percent of the spending was in financial aid, 1.5 percent in subsistence allowance, 1.6 percent toward rents and rest in medical aid and furnishing accommodations,” said the source. The source also said the organization supported a total of 2,283 families. “The families are dispersed across 31 countries and they contain a total of 8,012 members. This year, Awasir received applications from 1,050 families for financial aid and support. The organization is planning to send delegates to 15 countries where Saudi families are located,” said the source. The source said the delegates will check on the families to see how they are doing. “Field visits help the organization find unregistered Saudi families abroad who may need the organization’s support but are unaware of its services. The last field visit covered Morocco, Jordan, China, the US, Indonesia, Egypt, Turkey and the Philippines,” said the source. He said the organization has recorded the families’ complaints and problems and has thoroughly looked into how to solve and overcome them. “The organization deposits the financial aid in the accounts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which in turn will deposit the money in the accounts of Saudi consulates abroad. The consulates will then take care of delivering the financial aid to the Saudi families living in the country they are in,” said the source. The source also said the organization is also working on launching an awareness campaign to educate Saudis against rushing to marry foreigners.