Qoqnoos, June 20, 2008

Saudi Arabia deport 13 Afghan children of age 5-11

Kids as young as five forced to leave their parents in Saudi Arabia

SAUDI ARABIA has deported thirteen Afghan children after locking them in jail for six months without telling their families where they were.

These children were jailed for 6 months in Saudi Arabia and later deported to Afghanistan without their parents.

The expelled children, aged between five and 11, were living illegally in Saudi Arabia , according to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

These children said Saudi police arrested them while they were walking through the streets and locked them in jail for six months before the government deported them to Afghanistan on Monday.

The children have been living in the Alawuddin orphanage since arriving in Kabul, leaving behind their families in Saudi Arabia.

One of the deportees, a 10-year-old boy, said: “I lived in Saudi Arabia for four years with my family, but one day when I was playing football, the police came and arrested me. I spent six months in prison, and then we were sent back to Afghanistan.”

One of the young girls said: “I miss my parents a lot, and I want to go to them.”

Another young boy said: “I was selling chewing gum in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, when the police came and arrested me.”

Deputy of the ministry of work and social affairs said: “These children’s relatives in Afghanistan can come with their documents and identification cards and take these children.”

It is thought the children are from Baghlan, but they say they don’t know any relatives in the province.

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