Difficulties of migrant women workers in Saudi Arabia have increased, they are unable to find a way to return home.

Fatima (name changed), a migrant worker from Kenya living in Saudi Arabia, went to a nearby hospital in the capital Riyadh when she experienced labor pains. But the hospital staff threatened to call the police.

Talking to The Guardian, Fatima said, 'They said that they would send me to jail if I did not present the necessary documents. I was very scared of going to jail with labor pain and I pretended to roam around the hospital. After this I left the hospital and came to my home.'

Gave birth to a child at home alone

Fatima gave birth to a son just 5 minutes after reaching her rented house. She herself cut the umbilical cord of the child and cleaned it and wrapped it in a blanket. She said that all this was very scary but she had to do it because at that time there was no one to help her.

Fatima told that she had run away from the house where she worked as a domestic worker because the owner sexually exploited and physically tortured her. He had also forcibly kept Fatima's passport with him, which is why she has been doing small jobs since then to make a living. But she has been wanting to leave Saudi Arabia for the last 2 years for the sake of her son, because her 8-year-old son is neither able to go to school nor can he be treated in Saudi hospitals.

Migrant women 'trapped' in Saudi Arabia!

There are many migrant women like Fatima in Saudi Arabia who are stuck waiting to go home and now it is becoming impossible for them to get out of here. Actually, in the Islamic law of Saudi Arabia, having sex outside marriage is a crime, children born from extramarital relations do not get birth certificate in Saudi, due to which they are deprived of basic rights and services like education, medical treatment and traveling outside the country.

Human rights groups say women are disproportionately charged for it because the resulting pregnancy is considered evidence. Victims of rape or sex trafficking can also be accused and prosecuted for having extramarital sex.

It is difficult to return home due to lack of documents

In its investigation, The Guardian spoke to 5 women from Kenya who want to return to their country from Saudi Arabia but are unable to register the birth of their children because they were born out of extramarital affairs. These women were harassed by their employers due to which they had to leave their jobs and their identity documents are also confiscated by their employers.

Children born from extramarital affairs become 'stateless'

These women say that without documents, their children are not able to go to school. Talking to The Guardian, the women said that they want to leave Saudi Arabia but since their children are 'stateless', they are not able to get exit visa. In such a situation, these women are stuck in Saudi Arabia. Now due to lack of documents, they are neither able to return home with their children nor are they able to get basic facilities in Saudi.

The five women interviewed by The Guardian are all single mothers. They had sexual relationships with co-workers at work, but the children's fathers abandoned them and their children for fear of being arrested for extramarital affairs.

Migrant women workers demanded to be sent home

In April this year, many migrant single mothers took part in a public protest in Manfuha near Riyadh, demanding the Saudi administration to send them home. Protesting in Saudi Arabia is illegal and can lead to a jail sentence. The protesting women said that the Saudi administration neither cares about their children nor their mothers. The women said, 'We want to send our children to school, this is very important. They are losing the important opportunity of education in their childhood.'

The future of thousands of children in Gulf countries is at stake!

Human rights experts in Saudi Arabia say that the number of children born through extramarital relationships in the Gulf countries could be in thousands. They say that no matter what the circumstances of the children's birth, those children have the full right to identity and protection.

Allegations against Kenyan Embassy and their response

While talking to The Guardian, Christine (name changed) from Kenya has made serious allegations against the Kenyan Embassy and said that 'the embassy is also not helping for exit visa, the people of the embassy say that we are prostitutes.' They forget that many of these children are born due to rape by their boss or the driver of the house where the women are working, this is very painful.

In response to these allegations, the Kenyan Embassy says that they had taken DNA samples of the children and their mother in November last year, the results of which are being worked on. Kenyan Embassy Ambassador Mohammed Ruwange rejected those allegations and said that no embassy staff told the women that their DNA does not match with the child. He said that the embassy is trying to help these women according to the laws of both countries, but since there is a risk of trafficking of minors and children in this case, it may take time.