Rights group asks: Where is Dubai princess, who vanished after trying to flee by yacht?

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on United Arab Emirates authorities to disclose the whereabouts and condition of a daughter of Dubai’s ruler, following reports that she was forcibly returned after fleeing the Gulf Arab state.

The rights group identified the daughter as Sheikha Latifa bin Mohammad al-Maktoum, 32, and said that failure to disclose her status could “qualify as an enforced disappearance, given the evidence suggesting that she was last seen as UAE authorities were detaining her”.

UAE officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A source close to the government of Dubai said that “Latifa is safe and sound with her family” but declined further comment, citing legal considerations.

The UAE has also yet to comment on recent media reports that Sheikha Latifa, a daughter of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, announced in a video that she was fleeing the emirate due to restrictions imposed on her by her family.

The reports said she escaped with the help of friends on a yacht owned by a Frenchman. But the vessel was later intercepted off the coast of India.

“A witness told Human Rights Watch that UAE authorities intercepted Sheikha Latifa on March 4, 2018, as she tried to flee by sea to a third country, and returned her to the UAE,” the rights group said in its statement.