“By the power of law, every child born in the Kingdom must have the right to obtain Saudi nationality,”

JEDDAH: A youth symposium organized here recently by the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) has called for abolishing the sponsorship (kafeel) system in Saudi Arabia and to allow anyone born in the country to be given Saudi nationality.

“The sponsorship system has a number of loopholes that have not observed either the rights of the government or the foreign workers,” said Hussain Sharif, a human rights activist and a lawyer.

Sharif reiterated that public education is a universal human right, but proof of legal residence and/or citizenship by parents is required for the children to be enrolled. Sharif says loosening the rules to grant citizenship to any child born in the Kingdom would help resolve this issue. “By the power of law, every child born in the Kingdom must have the right to obtain Saudi nationality,” he said.

This is an Arabnews Article!