Saudi mother-of-three seeking asylum in Greece begs for help on Twitter saying her life is 'in danger'

A Saudi mother seeking asylum in Greece has appealed for help on social media, claiming her life is in danger and she will be separated from her husband and children if she is forced to return to Saudi Arabia.

Ghada al-Fadl, 40 is the latest Saudi woman to turn to Twitter for help after allegedly fleeing abuse within the ultraconservative Kingdom, where female citizens are subject to oppressive male guardianship laws.

Over the weekend the mother-of-three began tweeting human rights groups and agencies including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations to assist her in securing refugee status in Greece. A photo of her passport and the plea was shared and liked nearly 10,000 times.

She told The Independent from Ioannina, in northern Greece, that if her asylum request is rejected she will be forced to go home where she will be torn from her three children and Syrian husband, as her marriage and so family, is not recognised by the Saudi authorities.

The Independent was unable to independently verify her story. The authorities did not reply to a request for comment.

The former resident of Qatif, in eastern Saudi, claimed she left the Kingdom in 2010 for Syria, after her shop was repeatedly raided by religious police because she was a working woman. She also feared being forced into a marriage by her family.

She later married a man in Syria, but claimed the Saudi authorities in 2011 refused to register her marriage on the grounds he was a foreigner.

When the Syrian civil war erupted and Saudi citizens were encouraged to return home, the authorities apparently would not permit Mrs al-Fadl’s husband to accompany her.

The family then fled Damascus in 2017 by crossing illegally into Turkey and taking a migrant dinghy to Greece, where Mrs al-Fadl is trying to claim asylum.

“My life and my children's lives are in danger. We contacted UNCHR to approve our asylum claim but we haven't heard back from them. I'm urgently asking all human rights organisations to save my life and my children's lives,” she said.

“The biggest threat to me is being sent back to Saudi Arabia. My husband and my children cannot enter Saudi Arabia … they are not recognised by the Saudi authorities.

“They will make me go back alone, without my children or husband. The Saudi will divorce me from my husband and I may be forced to marry again because of the customs and traditions of Saudi society, to be harassed again and return to the life of hell, which I had lived before."

She claimed she first fled Saudi Arabia to avoid being forced into a third marriage, after divorcing two abusive husbands, including one she was married off to aged just 13 years old.

She said she applied for asylum in Greece via Intersos rights group and the UN but was told she would likely be rejected.

As of May 2018 Greece was host to more than 60,000 refugees and migrants - many of them fleeing the Syrian conflict, according to UNHCR.

“We are harassed because I have Saudi nationality and they tell us we do not deserve asylum because we are from a very rich and safe country,” she added.

“But if they do not accept my application, I will return home alone without my three children Daniel, who is 8, Ibrahim, who is 3 and Ghada who is just two.”

It is not possible to independently verify Ghada’s story. She shared official documents and several videos which appeared to back up the events.

Saudi Rights group Al-Qst, which has worked on similar cases, told The Independent they were still trying to follow up and verify the case.

But it follows at least four similar cases of vulnerable women fleeing the Kingdom that rights groups have documented since 2017.