DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Two Saudi sisters fleeing their family in Saudi Arabia have secured emergency visas and departed Hong Kong to a new country of residence, their lawyer said Monday.
It’s the latest public incident of Saudi women fleeing the kingdom for safety and refuge abroad.
Lawyer Michael Vidler said in a statement that the sisters, ages 18 and 20, were granted emergency humanitarian visas after six months in Hong Kong. Vidler said the two are now “beginning their lives as free young women.” Their identities and new country of residence were not disclosed.
The sisters were escaping alleged repeated beatings and abuse by their male relatives, according to the rights group Amnesty International. The young women have told media they escaped while on a family trip to Sri Lanka and had intended to seek asylum in Australia.
They have not disclosed their identities nor shown their faces.
The sisters said in a statement that they want their story to give hope to others facing similar situations.
“We are thrilled... that we have found our way to safety to restart our lives free of violence and oppression,” they said.
Saudi female runaways who flee the kingdom are typically trying to escape domestic abuse and male guardianship laws that bar women, regardless of their age, from obtaining a passport, traveling abroad, marrying or undergoing certain medical procedures without a male relative’s consent. That often means a husband or father, but sometimes even a woman’s son has sole power to grant permission.
A Section on 03/26/2019