A sad situation for a Quebec lady

I was reading the Montreal Gazette today as I usually do and came across the story of a young Quebec woman who moved to Saudi Arabia with her boyfriend who was returning to his own country.

She now wishes to leave this country and take her 3 children with her. It appears, from the story, that this man has also physically abused her.

Many people want the Canadian Government to intervene on her behalf. How can they? Saudi Arabia is a sovereign country with their own set of laws which differ greatly from our laws.

She voluntarily went there to live and during that time, two of her three children were born in Saudia Arabia which makes them Saudi citizens.

From what I read, this couple are breaking the laws of Saudi Arabia by living together without marriage which will reflect very badly on both of them when it comes to legal issues. In fact, I am quite surprised that the boy's family did not insist on them getting married there.

Normally, from what I have learned, the children of a marriage belong to the husband's family in many, if not all, Arab speaking nations.

I know one Canadian lady who was married to a Saudi many years ago - they had one son and when she wanted to leave her husband, she was not allowed to bring her son out of Saudi Arabia. She has been back to visit him, of course, and he is a grown up now.

I have always felt her pain to have to leave her child behind. The laws in other countries are not as liberal as ours are. I would think it would be a wise decision for any Canadian girl to remain in Canada with her foreign husband, and definitely not go to live in his country.

However, it is a risk to marry somebody whose roots are not here deep in the Canadian soil. It is almost inevitable that a man will miss his mother and greater family "at home" and want to go back to live close to them. In many countries, the family unit is very strong and generally the children, even though grown up, will remain in the family unit until they marry. Even after they marry, quite often the newly married people move in with the family group.

As for this young lady, I don't know what the legal status would be since they are not married, but I am very much afraid that she will need to leave her children behind or remain there with them.

I do feel so sorry for her though, as either way, she is in a terrible position.

I think in order to resolve this situation, we need another King Solomon with his great wisdom.