Saudi sisters appeal for help after fleeing kingdom for Georgia
Two Saudi sisters have appealed to Georgia for asylum in the latest apparent case of women fleeing the kingdom to escape abusive families.
Maha al-Subaie, 28, and Wafa al-Subaie, 25 on Tuesday created a Twitter account called @GeorgiaSisters, saying that the Saudi government had suspended their passports.
"We are two Saudi sisters who fled from Saudi Arabia seeking asylum," said one of their tweets.
"Yet, the family and the Saudi government have suspended our passports and now we are trapped in Georgia country. We need your help please."
On Wednesday, the account posted videos and pictures of the two women, including passports, and said their brother and father had arrived in the Caucasus nation looking for them.
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"My father and brothers arrived in Georgia and they are looking for us," wrote the account.
"We fled oppression from our family because the laws in Saudi Arabia is too week [sic] to protect us we are seeking the UNHCR protection in order to be taken to a safe country."
Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday it was in touch with the women.
The two are the latest in a series of cases featuring women fleeing the socially conservative kingdom. In January, 18-year-old Rahaf al-Qunun was granted asylum in Canada after becoming stranded in Thailand while trying to escape her family.
Her case made headlines after she posted video and pictures on Twitter from a hotel room in Bangkok where she had barricaded herself to prevent being returned to Saudi Arabia.
Also last month, another two Saudi sisters fled their family to Hong Kong and secured emergency visas after hiding on the island for months
The two women, who have not been named, have since travelled to a third country, according to Al Jazeera.
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