![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/trapped-in-saudi-arabia-a-mothers-fight-to-free-her-daughter/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/127260572_pic3.jpg&description=Image source, Carly MorrisImage caption, Carly Morris has been trying to take her daughter back to the US for three yearsMothers from the US, Canada, the UK and other western countries, are fighting to get their children out of Saudi Arabia after marriage breakdowns to Saudi nationals. A campaigner says many don't get the help they need from their own governments.At first all seemed fine when American mum, Carly Morris, arrived in Saudi Arabia with her five year-old daughter, Tala. The child's Saudi father, whom she had married and later divorced during his seven-year scholarship in the USA, had persuaded her to come for a short visit. He had arranged a thirty-day visa for them both, so that his parents could meet their granddaughter for the first time.Carly's holiday mood first took a knock on checking into the hotel her ex-husband had booked for her and Tala. Their room had no windows or internet access and her mobile phone would not work there. Though Carly says she soon had much more to worry about."The week after we arrived he asked for my passport and my birth certificate so that he could start processing her [Tala] exit permit. Though what he really did, I later found out, was he transferred her to a Saudi citizenship."Dual citizenship is not recognised in Saudi Arabia so from this point on Tala, who had been born and raised in America, was considered a Saudi citizen only. This meant that under the country's male guardianship system she could not leave the country unless her Saudi father agreed. It was soon clear that this was the last thing he would do.Carly says her Saudi ex-husband began collecting Tala each morning and not bringing her back until late in the evening. Left alone all day in her basic hotel room with little money she relied on boxes of food he would leave for her. Finally, after nearly two years of appealing to him to him take her their daughter home, Carly began writing to members of the US congress and others who she hoped might help her.T){kind=link}
Mothers from the US, Canada, the UK and other western countries, are fighting to get their children out of Saudi Arabia after marriage breakdowns to Saudi nationals. A campaigner says many don’t get the help they need from their own governments.
At first all seemed fine when American mum, Carly Morris, arrived in Saudi Arabia with her five year-old daughter, Tala. The child’s Saudi father, whom she had married and later divorced during his seven-year scholarship in the USA, had persuaded her to come for a short visit. He had arranged a thirty-day visa for them both, so that his parents could meet their granddaughter for the first time.
Carly’s holiday mood first took a knock on checking into the hotel her ex-husband had booked for her and Tala. Their room had no windows or internet access and her mobile phone would not work there. Though Carly says she soon had much more to worry about.
“The week after we arrived he asked for my passport and my birth certificate so that he could start processing her [Tala] exit permit. Though what he really did, I later found out, was he transferred her to a Saudi citizenship.”
Dual citizenship is not recognised in Saudi Arabia so from this point on Tala, who had been born and raised in America, was considered a Saudi citizen only. This meant that under the country’s male guardianship system she could not leave the country unless her Saudi father agreed. It was soon clear that this was the last thing he would do.