Escape bids by rebel princesses
throw spotlight on UAE rights
Stuart WILLIAMS and Lucie PEYTERMANN
AFP
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktum (C) and his wife Princess Haya (R) are locked in a legal battle in the UK over the welfare of their children (AFP Photo/Karim SAHIB)
Paris (AFP) - Princess Haya, who is battling her husband Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al-Maktoum in a UK court, is the third princess who has sought to escape the Gulf emirate in recent years.
Activists say the attempts by Haya and two of Sheikh Mohammed's daughters to escape the United Arab Emirates (UAE) throw a harsh spotlight on the country's rights record, even as it tries to present a glitzy and modern image to the West.
In 2000, Sheikha Shamsa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum tried to escape the family's entourage during a holiday in England, but was reportedly picked up two months later and forcibly returned to Dubai.
And in 2018, another daughter, Sheikha Latifa, fled Dubai before being allegedly captured at sea off India. Supporters released a harrowing video, purportedly by her, in which she describes her living conditions.
Princess Haya, 45, the half-sister of Jordan's King Abdullah and an equestrian competitor in the Olympics for her native Jordan, surfaced this year in Britain where she has applied for a forced marriage protection order.
- 'Endemic failings' -
The cases have tarnished efforts by Sheikh Mohammed, who is also prime minister of the UAE and a familiar figure on the global horse racing circuit as founder of the Godolphin stables, to present Dubai as a contemporary model in the Middle East.
The city has expanded exponentially in recent years as its rulers turned it into a global investment and tourism hub no longer dependent on energy revenues.
In November 2018, Dubai hosted a world tolerance summit that was denounced by rights groups as brazen hypocrisy given its record on human rights.
A new edition of the event, scheduled for November, will take place under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed with the aim to "strengthen the UAE's stance to be a model for tolerance and positive coexistence".
Rights groups accuse the UAE of holding opponents without legal basis, including award-winning rights activist Ahmed Mansoor, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2018 on accusations of spreading false information.
Prominent academic Nasser Bin Ghaith was also handed a 10-year jail term in 2017 over a series of tweets criticising the UAE authorities.
Human Rights Watch said in July that the UAE was continuing to hold at least five Emirati prisoners, including an activist and members of a registered Islamist political movement, even after they completed their sentences.
Contacted by AFP, the UK-based group Detained in Dubai, which says it assists people or companies caught up in the UAE's legal system, said: "The cases of Princess Latifa and Princess Haya highlight many of the endemic failings, if not legalised abuses, that plague the UAE legal system."
The failings of the UAE's legal system were "particularly sharp in relation to the rights of women," it added.
Emirati media used to extensively cover the movements of Haya, who in 2016 said of her husband that "every single day I thank God that I am lucky enough to be close to him." But the last story about Haya from the official WAM news agency dates back to February.
Latifa's story
Latifa (L) was not seen in public until images emerged of her in December 2018 with former Irish president
Mary Robinson (R) in Dubai (AFP Photo/STRINGER)
Latifa's disappearance was a source of international intrigue, with supporters claiming she was captured on a yacht in March 2018 during an escape bid and forcibly returned to Dubai.
She was not seen in public until images emerged of her in Dubai meeting the former UN human rights chief and former Irish president Mary Robinson.
Robinson confirmed Latifa had planned her escape and recorded a video, and described her as "clearly troubled."
After her disappearance, supporters released a video which they said Latifa recorded before her escape bid, where she launched a scathing attack on her father, saying he only cared about his reputation.
"If you are watching this video it is not such a good thing. Either I am dead or in a really bad situation," says the woman in the video, who claimed to be Latifa.
Shamsa's story is very brief
Echoing British press reports from the time, the woman said "my sister Shamsa" had tried to escape in England in 2000 but was then abducted by "bunch of guys" after two months on the run and returned to Dubai via France.
Now "she has no freedom, she has a psychiatrist with her and she is surrounded by nurses."
The circumstances surrounding Shamsa's disappearance are even more mysterious, and she has not been seen in public for almost two decades.
'He will never stop looking for us':
Saudi Sisters who Fled Allegedly Abusive Father
Seek Asylum in Canada
Dua and Dalal al-Showaiki say their father tried to
force them to marry older men
CBC Radio 
Saudi sisters Dua, left, and Dalal al-Showaiki have been hiding in Istanbul for six weeks from their father, who they claim abused them for having dreams of independence and tried to force them to marry older, religious men. (Submitted by Toby Cadman)
Two Saudi sisters who have been hiding in Istanbul for six weeks after fleeing years of alleged abuse by their father are hoping to be granted asylum in Canada.
Dua, 22, and Dalal al-Showaiki, 20, describe their father as controlling and abusive and say he tried to force them to abandon their dreams of independence in order to marry older, religious men.
After years of contemplating their escape, the sisters said they made the drastic decision to flee on June 10 while on a family vacation in Turkey's largest city.
"We didn't have, like, anyone to help us," Dua told The Current, speaking from their 11th safe house in Istanbul. "We didn't have any choice. Just run away."
It's so hard for me to live in Saudi Arabia.
I don't have any future there.
- Dua al-Showaiki
Dalal describes her family life as a "jail" in which she is unable to make her own decisions. "If sometimes my father told us, like, 'This morning, you can't go to school at your college.' I can't complain to anyone."
The situation is worse for Dua, who realized as a teen that she was gay. Homosexuality is considered a crime in Saudi Arabia and is punishable by death or flogging.
"It's so hard for me to live in Saudi Arabia," she said. "I don't have any future there."
The getaway
During the family vacation, Dua and Dalal say their father seized their passports and money before locking them in a hotel room. When he opened the door to use the bathroom, the sisters say they were ready — wearing shoes and with cellphones in hand — to make a dash for the exit.
"I was running, I don't know where I must go. But I was hiding in the streets," Dua recalled.
The recent high-profile getaways of other Arab women — Saudi Arabia's Rahaf Mohammed, Dubai princess Sheikha Latifa, and Saudi sisters Maha and Wafa al-Subaie — almost thwarted their plan. They said their family was on high alert, attuned to the possibility.
After making their escape, the sisters then reached out to an online network of Saudi women for help.
"I told them that I am on the street. I don't have any place to go … and they helped me," Dua said. "They know people in Turkey and they [gave] me their contact."
Dua and Dalal have been hiding in Istanbul for 50 days. After making their escape, they relied on an online network of Saudi women for help finding a safe house. (DuaDalal/Twitter)
The sisters have been holed up in Istanbul ever since, taking to social media to publicize their plight and campaign for asylum in Canada.
Dua and Dalal spend most of their time indoors and move frequently for fear their father will find them and forcibly bring them back to their home country. Turkey is one of a handful of countries that Saudis can travel to without a prior visa.
"He will never stop looking for us, so he can clear the shame," said Dalal.
She believes if they were to return to their home in the port city of Jeddah, about 90 kilometres east of Mecca, her father would kill them or have them thrown in jail, where they would be subject to torture.
The sisters say their getaway and public campaign has also led them to receive a steady stream of online threats.
Life free of oppression
Asked why they have chosen Canada as their preferred destination, Dalal says it's because it's a safe place. "They support gay people, they support ex-Muslims and everyone," she said
🇸🇦 Dua & Dalal 🇸🇦
@DuaDalal
I'm Dua and my sister Dalal have fled from Saudi Arabia to Turkey. My father wanted to marry us to old men and religious militants. We were beaten and harassed. We were threatened with imprisonment in the Women's Welfare Center,#SaveDuaandDalal
#SaudiSistersRescue @hrw_ar
Toby Cadman, a British lawyer who has been advising the sisters, says he has credible evidence that family members may try to compel Turkish authorities to illegally return Dua and Dalal to Saudi Arabia.
"The environment in Turkey is really not safe," he said, referencing a large number of Saudi nationals who visit the country each year.
The sisters are currently waiting for their application to be processed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which is responsible for determining which refugee cases to refer to Canada.
In an email to The Current, a spokesperson for Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said the office is unable to comment on the sisters' case due to privacy regulations.
"Individuals cannot apply directly for resettlement to Canada, nor can they make claims at an Embassy of Canada," Mathieu Genest wrote. "The UNHCR determines which cases to refer to Canada and will request expedited processing when appropriate."
Asylum seekers whose claims are determined to be eligible will get a hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, he said, which will select "foreign nationals for resettlement who have no reasonable prospect of finding another durable solution."
Toby Cadman, centre, is a British lawyer who has been advising the sisters on their asylum claim. He says he hopes they will have a chance at a normal life. (Submitted by Toby Cadman)
Cadman is optimistic their case will warrant an urgent decision by UNHCR and says he hopes the sisters will have a chance at "a life like you and I would consider to be normal."
"We've already heard about the system of abuse, which we know exists in Saudia Arabia," he told The Current.
"You also have two individuals that have been subjected to physical and mental abuse over a number of years. They've also been subjected to sexual abuse by family members in an environment where no care is given to protect them."
The Saudi embassy in Ottawa did not respond to The Current's request for comment.
Plight of women's rights
Saudi Arabia has a long history of brutally punishing those who demand equality, defend women's rights and advocate for social reform.
It consistently ranks among the world's worst countries for women's rights and equality. The World Economic Forum positioned it 141 out of 149 in its 2018 report on gender equality.
The country's highly restrictive guardianship laws require women to be granted permission from a male relative to work, travel abroad, marry and receive certain kinds of medical treatment.
This past spring, a sweep of arrests targeting individuals supportive of women's rights and those with ties to jailed activists saw 12 people detained. Women who have stood trial for charges related to their activism have told court they were abused during interrogations.
Asked if they would resettle in another country if it offered them asylum before Canada, the sisters replied they'd be willing to go nearly anywhere.
"If anyone in any country agreed to take us, of course, we're going to go," Dua said.
Maha and Wafa al-Subaie
Saudi sisters Wafa and Maha granted asylum
By Anne-Marie Bissada
Sisters Maha and Wafa al-Subaie post a photo of themselves leaving Georgia
The two Saudi sisters who made international headlines in April seeking help to leave Georgia before their family or officials forced them back to Saudi Arabia, have finally been offered asylum in an undisclosed location.
It was a story that made headlines as sisters Maha and Wafa fled their abusive family and arrived in Georgia 17 April where they started to ask for help in relocation to a third country.
“We decided to leave Saudi Arabia because life there had become unbearable from the torture. We were threatened and abused daily by our family, father and mother and brothers,” Maha had said in an interview with RFI.
In direct contact with RFI and other news outlets, the sisters explained that they had been planning to leave since 2014 after their lives had become unbearable from the constant repression at the hands of their family and the government.
Under the Saudi male guardianship system, a woman, regardless of her age, is under constant surveillance by an official male guardian.
Easy access to Georgia
Georgia is one of the few countries that Saudi citizens can travel to without a visa, making it an easier destination for the girls to get to.
But ultimately, the longer they waited there, the more precarious their situation became as twitter trolls, reportedly from their family, began harassing them and tweeting threats to the sisters.
Your face does not indicate torture, you are lies, you do not deserve asylum there are women who deserve it more than you
amss (@amss70535077) April 22, 2019
Under Islamic law it is not permissible to scar or bruise a Muslim woman's face. Beatings must occur elsewhere on the body.
The UNHCR did work with the sisters in helping them find a safe place in Georgia.
Success story
In the end, a tweet and a photo telling their supporters that they had finally been accepted in a third country.
Rima. 🦋
@rima246
"As we settle in our new home and life we will continue to support Saudi women. Your sweet and thoughtful messages helped us through some very hard times."
Beautiful message from @GeorgiaSisters2 to the thousands who signed their petition: https://www.change.org/p/unhcr-help-resettle-saudi-sisters-maha-and-wafa-al-subaie-to-a-third-safe-country/u/24531500 …
For the time being as they settle into their new lives, the sisters have asked for privacy from the media.
The location of their new home is also not known, to ensure their safety.
Maha and Wafa al-Subaie have left Georgia
Twitter / @GeorgiaSisters2
While the sisters and other girls fleeing the Saudi Kingdom have found a happy ending, others have not been lucky as in the case of Dina Ali Lasloom.
She made it as far as the Philippines in 2017, but was then forced back to the kingdom. Her current whereabouts and condition remain unknown.
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