Riyadh: In the light of Saudis getting married to unknown women in the southern border area, the Ministry of Interior has warned the citizens against doing this as it amounts to violation of law. pointing out that anyone who marries a foreign woman without prior permission will be brought before the authorities for punishment for dealing with unidentified people, the ministry said.
In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and Yemen are the only Arab countries that do not have laws setting a minimum age for marriage.
According to a December 2011 Human Rights Watch report, approximately 14 percent of girls in Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest nation, were married before the age of 15, and 52 percent were wed before they turned 18.
Since the beginning of the Saudi-led air strikes on the country, many of those fleeing Yemen have entered illegally through the two countries’ 1,800km border. a directive from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, 46 correction centers were set up in all parts of the Kingdom to help illegal Yemenis who were in the Kingdom before April 9, to correct their residential status. Accordingly, more than 400,000 Yemenis in all parts of the Kingdom have corrected their status.
A maximum of 2,000 Yemenis are given documents daily to legalize their stay in the Kingdom. The correction operation will also include prisoners and those with criminal records.
According to correction procedures, each Yemeni will be issued a six-month renewable “visitor card,” which will allow its holder to work in the private sector.