http://www.care2.com/causes/womens-rights/blog/canadian-woman-trapped-in-saudi-arabia/It's like a storyline in a soap opera. Nazia Quazi, a dual Canadian-Indian citizen, came to Saudi Arabia on a work visa sponsored by her father, an Indian residing in the country. But when she decided to leave, the 22-year-old woman discovered she was trapped, unable to leave the country without the permission of her father, who set himself up not only as her sponsor but as her "guardian," giving him complete and utter control over every aspect of her life.
At some point Nazia's father clandestinely switched her visitor's visa to a more permanent visa--one that requires that he, as her sponsor, approve her exit visa. This he refuses to do. No exit visa, no departure. Worse, Nazia says he has confiscated both her Indian and Canadian passports and all her identity documents--driver's license, health card, credit cards and so on--and refuses to return them. She is trapped.
Nazia's father is not only her sponsor; he is also her mahram, or guardian, the male relative who in the Saudi system controls nearly every moment of a woman's life. As detailed in a 2008 Human Rights Watch report, under this system a woman must seek her mahram's permission to go to school, travel abroad, marry, open a bank account, hold a job, rent an apartment or even have elective surgery. (In June the Saudi government told the UN Human Rights Council that the guardianship system no longer exists, but HRW and the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan confirm that it does.) In effect, it makes women children for life--there are middle-aged Saudi women who are under the legal control of their own sons. Nazia's father thus has not only been able to force his daughter--through the sponsorship system--to remain in Riyadh; as her mahram he has total control of her life while she is there, even though neither Nazia nor her father is a Saudi citizen.
The primary issue appears to be that her family disapproved of her boyfriend, whom they felt wasn't Muslim enough. To keep her from him, they have instead chosen to imprison her in the country, under laws that allow them to have complete control over every aspect of her life.
I've written often about Saudi Arabia's treatment of women, from the woman imprisoned for having coffee with a man who wasn't related to her, to the woman who was whipped for being seen in public without her guardian, who was being held in jail. These repressive, restrictive laws go beyond simple religion morals and instead focus on a need to have women in a role of utter submission.
...Nazia's story is not about Islam or "Muslim values" or multiculturalism or a clash of civilizations or any of those other buzz words floating around. There are plenty of Muslims who support women's rights. Nazia's story is about men's control of women, an unbelievably oppressive government, and Canada's shameful failure to help one of its own citizens.
We simply cannot continue ignoring atrocities in other countries that cloaked in the guise of religious doctrine.
Topic: Canadian Woman Trapped in Saudi Arabia (Read 1777 times)