Saudi runaway sisters claim they are 'in danger' and plead for help on Twitter
The pair have created a Twitter account called "@GeorgiaSisters" and claim they will be killed if they are forced to return home.
Wednesday 17 April 2019 10:07, UK
Two Saudi sisters are pleading for help from Georgia after fleeing their family and country in the latest case of runaways from the ultra-conservative kingdom.
Maha al-Subaie, 28, and Wafa al-Subaie, 25, created a Twitter account on Wednesday called "@GeorgiaSisters" and claim they are in "danger" and will be killed if they are forced to return to Saudi Arabia.
"We are two Saudi sisters who fled from Saudi Arabia seeking asylum. Yet, the family and the Saudi government have suspended our passports and now we are trapped in Georgia," they wrote.
"We fled oppression from our family because the law in Saudi Arabia is too weak to protect us."
They said their father and brothers have arrived in Georgia and are looking for them.
"We are in danger... We want your protection. We want a country that welcomes us and protects our rights," Maha said in a video post.
Some social media users responded using the hashtag #SaveSaudiSisters to garner support for their appeal.
Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, contacted the girls on Twitter.
"Have already sent an email to our Middle East & North Africa team, and also inquiring about who we have in Georgia," he tweeted.
It comes just months after 18-year-old was granted asylum in Canada after using Twitter to draw worldwide attention to her plight and barricading herself in a Bangkok hotel room.
The Saudi teenager used the social media site to help prevent her deportation from Thailand when she was stopped en route to Australia in January.
Ms Alqunun fled her "abusive" family during a trip to Kuwait and feared her relatives would kill her if she was returned to the kingdom.
Up to a dozen Saudi women activists are currently on trial on charges related to their human rights work and contact with foreign journalists and diplomats.
Those on trial include rights campaigner Loujain al-Hathloul, university professor Hatoon al-Fassi, blogger Eman al-Nafjan and academic Aziza al-Yousef, who is in her 60s.
Western diplomats and media were denied entry to a hearing for some of the activists last month, according to Reuters news agency.
Relatives and human rights groups claim some of the women were held in solitary confinement for months and subjected to abuse including electric shocks, flogging, and sexual assault.
Three dozen countries, including all 28 EU members, Canada and Australia, have called on Riyadh to free the activists, while Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have both raised the issue during recent visits to Saudi Arabia.
The charges against Loujain al-Hathloul include communicating with 15 to 20 foreign journalists in Saudi Arabia, attempting to apply for a job at the United Nations and attending digital privacy training, according to her family.
State-backed media has labelled some of them as traitors and "agents of embassies".