Bobby Yip/REUTERS
Two Saudi sisters stranded in Hong Kong claim that routine physical abuse by male family members spurred them to escape home, and they now worry about forcible return to the Kingdom. The sisters, who go by the aliases Reem and Rawan, are 20 and 18 years old, according to Agence France-Presse. They are the most recent example of women fleeing Saudi Arabia, all the while trying to avoid political officials and fuming family members. The women claim to have found themselves stuck in Hong Kong after the Kingdom’s consular officials intercepted them at the airport during a layover, subsequently revoking their passports. The two say that they decided to make their escape while vacationing with family in Sri Lanka. Upon their arrival in Hong Kong, they learned that their flight to Melbourne, Australia had been canceled. Their attempt to flee comes on the heels of 18-year-old Saudi woman Rahaf Mohammed’s escape to Canada from allegedly abusive family members, per the news service.