{"id":85788,"date":"2019-02-22T15:42:19","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T22:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=85788"},"modified":"2019-02-22T15:42:42","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T22:42:42","slug":"exclusive-stranded-saudi-sisters-fear-for-their-safety-in-hong-kong-as-clock-ticks-on-hopes-for-asylum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/02\/22\/exclusive-stranded-saudi-sisters-fear-for-their-safety-in-hong-kong-as-clock-ticks-on-hopes-for-asylum\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Stranded Saudi sisters fear for their safety in Hong Kong, as clock ticks on hopes for asylum"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Jennifer Creery<\/a>\u00a0Courtesy hongkongfp.com<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Under the cover of darkness, the two Saudi sisters snuck out of their family\u2019s holiday home in Sri Lanka and boarded a flight to escape the years-long abuse they endured back home. But instead of a new life, Rawan and Reem \u2013 who are using pseudonyms \u2013 found themselves stranded in Hong Kong, after\u00a0Kingdom officials arrived at the airport and interrupted their transit<\/a>\u00a0to Australia.<\/p>\n

The girls entered the city and, over the past five months, have been quietly shuttled between 13 different safehouses. Yet they continue to fear for their personal safety in what is meant to be one of the world\u2019s safest cities. Their lawyer Michael Vidler\u00a0told HKFP that the pair have had their passports invalidated and could be forced to leave the territory as soon as next Thursday. Since the sister\u2019s passports were cancelled by the Saudi authorities, the Hong Kong government has \u2018tolerated\u2019 their continued presence in Hong Kong without a visa. This will end on February 28,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\"Reem<\/p>\n

Rawan and Reem. Photo: Tom Grundy\/HKFP.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The sisters say that, if they are sent back to Riyadh, they could face imprisonment or even a so-called honour killing\u201d at the hands of their conservative family for renouncing Islam and attempting to leave. In the Kingdom, apostasy is punishable by death.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s like slavery\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Women in Saudi Arabia live under the watchful eye of their male guardians who, within the law, oversee everything from where female dependents\u2019 travel to who they marry. It\u2019s like slavery,\u201d Rawan, 18, told HKFP in an interview on Friday. We have to get permission from our male guardians to do everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every detail of our lives was controlled by a male, even our clothes, we can\u2019t choose what we want to wear. We can\u2019t go out without anyone else with us, or without an\u00a0abaya<\/em>,\u201d Reem, 20, added, referring to a long dress worn by some women in Muslim countries.<\/p>\n

The girls say they suffered physical abuse at home, and would have eventually been forced into marriage with their cousins \u2013 an orthodox practice \u2013 if they had remained.<\/p>\n

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\"Reem<\/p>\n

The sisters in Sri Lanka. Photo: Supplied.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Kingdom\u2019s ubiquitous control of women is now backed by technology.\u00a0A\u00a0controversial government-backed app called\u00a0Absher\u00a0<\/em>enables Saudi men to\u00a0monitor dependents\u2019 whereabouts at all times. The sisters said their relatives were able to track them down and report them to Saudi officials in Hong Kong using the app, which rights groups recently urged Google and Apple to remove from their online stores.<\/p>\n

But since arriving in the city, the women have not escaped the feeling of being watched. For security reasons, they have been moved between hotels, shelters and private residences over a dozen times,\u00a0and spend most of their days indoors out of fear of venturing outside.<\/p>\n

Their concerns are well-founded. The sisters said that after attempting to seek help at the French Consulate in Central shortly after their arrival, they spotted a man who\u00a0looked Arabic\u201d waiting in a taxi queue. Later that day, they saw the same man waiting in their hotel lobby in North Point, staring at them. He followed us,\u201d Reem explained.<\/p>\n

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\"Reem<\/p>\n

Rawan and Reem. Photo: Tom Grundy\/HKFP.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In September,\u00a0they received a Whatsapp message purporting to be from the local police, though they quickly realised it was fraudulent.<\/p>\n

We fled our home to ensure our safety. We hope that we can be given asylum in a country which recognises women\u2019s rights and treats them as equals. We dream of being in a safe place where we can be normal young women, free from violence and oppression.\u201d<\/div>\n

The Kingdom has a history of attempting to forcibly return women who leave.\u00a0In January, a Saudi woman named\u00a0Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun\u00a0made international headlines when she barricaded herself in a Bangkok hotel room to prevent deportation. After a viral social media campaign, she was given refugee status and granted asylum in Canada.<\/p>\n

But others are not as fortunate. In 2017, a Saudi woman named Dina Ali Lasloom was intercepted by her uncles at an airport in Manila\u00a0on her way to seek asylum in Australia. She was subsequently sent back to the Kingdom\u00a0and has not been heard from since.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a story that the women are all too painfully familiar with. I was aware of Dina Ali, but I thought \u2018ok \u2013 I\u2019m not going to a poor country. I\u2019m going to Hong Kong, it\u2019s strong, it\u2019s two hours transit and then I can go to Australia,\u201d Rawan said. I thought it would only be a two-hour transit and now it\u2019s almost six months in Hong Kong.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"<\/p>\n

In the headlines: Dina Ali Lasloom, Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, and Jamal Khashoggi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Since their arrival, Rawan and Reem also became acutely aware of the alleged murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of the authorities at Turkey\u2019s Saudi embassy last October. Neither want to risk approaching the local consulate for their passports.<\/p>\n

Clock ticking<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to their lawyer\u2019s\u00a0statement<\/a>, the duo were approached by two men at Hong Kong International Airport as they transited for their onward flight to Australia. The men took their passports and cancelled their Cathay Pacific flight to Melbourne and, instead, booked them tickets for an Emirates flight to\u00a0Riyadh.<\/p>\n

Cathay Pacific told HKFP it received cancellation instructions from Sri Lankan Airlines, who sold and issued the original tickets. Sri Lankan Airlines did not respond to a request for comment, but the airline\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0CNN it was following the instructions of the Saudi officials who claimed the girls\u2019 mother was gravely ill.<\/p>\n

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When I realised we were stuck here, I panicked,\u201d she added. I\u2019ve read that Hong Kong is not a really good place for refugees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Refugees\u00a0make up just\u00a00.2 per cent<\/a>\u00a0of Hong Kong\u2019s population, according to NGO Justice Centre.\u00a0Between 2014 and 2017, 52 or\u00a00.7 per cent<\/a>\u00a0of asylum seeker claims were accepted on the grounds of non-refoulement\u201d or torture. The process for seeking asylum in the city can take several years and during that period, applicants are not allowed to work in the city and must depend upon NGO handouts and social welfare stipends. With the assistance of Vidler and Justice Centre, Rawan and Reem have sought to avoid a risky, years-long stay in Hong Kong by applying directly for refuge in a third country.<\/p>\n

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Timeline: A daring escape, then caught in limbo<\/strong>\u00a0– click to view.<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A spokesperson for the Immigration Department told HKFP that they could not comment on individual cases: The Immigration Department always exercises effective immigration control in accordance with the relevant laws and policies,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n