Two Saudi sisters marooned in Hong Kong after fleeing their family have been granted an extension to stay while they seek sanctuary in a third country such as Australia.
The pair's lawyer Michael Vidler said the sisters, aged 18 and 20, are being permitted to remain in the city until April 8, after their latest extension expired last week.
The two women - who use the aliases Reem and Rawan - are the latest example of Saudi women escaping the ultra-conservative kingdom only to find themselves stranded in foreign countries and making public appeals for their safety.
The two sisters in Hong Kong. Source: Getty
They said they were intercepted by Saudi consular officials at Hong Kong's airport and had their plane tickets cancelled.
Fearful they might be abducted, they entered Hong Kong as visitors where they say they have had to change locations 13 times to stay hidden. Their passports were later revoked.
Mr Vidler said Hong Kong immigration authorities have confirmed that the presence of the Saudi sisters in Hong Kong will be "further tolerated" until April 8. But the same letter however, the Director of Immigration now asserts that despite being tolerated, the sisters are "liable to prosecution and removal as overstayers".
"We are urgently seeking clarification from Hong Kong immigration authorities and continue to press for an urgent determination of the sister’s visas to a 3rd country place of safety," Mr Vidler said.
In a joint statement, the sisters said they felt "like fish trapped in a little oasis that is rapidly drying out".
"We are in constant fear of being found by the Saudi authorities and our family and forced to return to Saudi Arabia," they said.
"All we want is to go to a third country place of safety, without being ever fearful that the Saudi Authorities and our family will find us and abduct us."
Hong Kong itself has a poor record on refugees, only granting sanctuary to less than one per cent of claimants.
The two women told AFP last month that chronic physical abuse by male family members prompted them to flee.
They said they had also renounced Islam, a crime technically punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.
Michael Vidler was Reem and Rewan's lawyer. Source: Getty Images
Their testimony cannot be independently verified.
But many Saudi women who flee overseas have described to media and rights groups of persuasive and coercive tactics used by Saudi officials and family members to pursue those who escape.
The Hong Kong sister's case emerged a month after drew global attention with her dramatic escape from an allegedly abusive family, eventually gaining refugee status in Canada.
Additional reporting: AFP
