SAUDI ARABIA: Abandoned by Sons, Elderly Woman Lives in Stairwell

JIZAN, Saudi Arabia (Arab News), 19 June 2006: A 90-year-old woman has been forced to live in the stairwell of a building in Jizan without light, ventilation and a toilet because her children do not want to take care of her, Al-Watan daily reported yesterday. The woman is in poor health with her eyesight deteriorating. Without access to a toilet the old woman is forced to use plastic bags to relieve herself. A foul smell constantly lingers in the stairwell. According to locals, the woman is not getting help from charitable people because her sons are financially secure. Besides two sons, the woman has four daughters who live with their husbands. A daughter who lives in Jizan said she did not help her mother because she was “wicked”. Though the woman is of Yemeni nationality her sons are Saudi citizens. Al-Watan reported that local people wondered how the sons and daughters could be so cruel to their mother while it is the religious obligation of every believer to care for their parents in old age. With life expectancy in the Kingdom rising as a result of advanced health care facilities, caring for the aged is increasingly becoming a social problem. Copyright Arab News © 2003