Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2188126/saudi-sisters-run-consular-staff-and-family-granted Law and Crime
Saudi sisters on the run from consular staff and family apply to stay longer in Hong Kong
- Immigration Department acknowledges application for extension
- Amnesty International urges local government not to return pair to their country of origin as they will be “in grave danger”
The sisters are still waiting for their emergency asylum request to be processed. Photo: Handout
Two sisters stranded in Hong Kong while on the run from Saudi Arabia and their family have applied to stay in the city beyond the initial Thursday deadline, according to their lawyer.
In a statement, human rights lawyer Michael Vidler said Hong Kong’s Immigration Department acknowledged the request that the pair would be “allowed to continue to stay pending determination of their application to a third country place of safety”.
The two sisters, who go by the pseudonyms Reem and Rawan, earlier claimed to have escaped an alleged kidnap attempt orchestrated by the Saudi consulate at Hong Kong International Airport last September. They were in transit to Australia, their final destination.
The women said they were running from their family because they had been abused by their father.
In November, their Saudi passports were revoked, forcing them to stay in Hong Kong.
The pair applied for an emergency rescue visa to an unnamed country in late December, but the applications are still being considered.
The sisters have moved 13 times in the past five months, their lawyers said, to evade capture.
“We are in fear every day we are in Hong Kong. We want to leave [for] a third country place of safety as soon as possible,” the two wrote in a statement released by Vidler and his firm.
“We desperately hope that this will happen very soon and that the Hong Kong government will continue to allow us to stay here until then.”
While the Immigration Department did not indicate a new expiry date, Vidler said at least the extension of stay bought more time for their asylum request to be processed.
“We are in communication [with the third country], but there hasn’t been any substantive development,” he added.
Hong Kong authorities have a duty to allow Reem and Rawan to stay in Hong Kong or let them travel to a country where they would be safe and can seek asylum
Vidler said he would not comment on a “backup plan”, should the sisters’ bid fail.
The department also said it would not comment on individual cases.
On Thursday, human rights NGO Amnesty International also urged the Hong Kong government not to return the two to Saudi Arabia, where they would be in “grave danger”.
“Reem and Rawan must not be sent back to Saudi Arabia ... They fled the kingdom after repeated abuse by male relatives and [there is] real risk of serious human rights violations if they are forcibly returned,” said Kate Schuetze, Amnesty International’s refugee researcher.
“Hong Kong authorities have a duty to allow Reem and Rawan to stay in Hong Kong or let them travel to a country where they would be safe and can seek asylum. The women’s lives are at risk if the authorities do not fulfil their responsibilities.”
On Friday, security minister John Lee Ka-chiu declined to comment on the next step for the Hong Kong authorities.
“It will be inappropriate for me to go into details,” Lee said.
Additional reporting by Jeffie Lam