A Welsh woman “caged” in Saudi Arabia by her father after she “kissed a guy” must be allowed to return to the United Kingdom, a High Court judge has ruled today.
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“This is a very unusual case”, said Mr Justice Holman.
Miss Al-Jeffery was born and raised in Swansea, Wales, before her father took her to the Middle East aged 16 because he disapproved of her “relationships and conduct”.
In a letter written earlier this year, the father had said: ‘Regarding returning Amina back to the United Kingdom, I am unwilling to do this as I fear she will go back to her old destructive lifestyle. “(He) chose to do it because Amina was not focusing on school”. There is a degree of admission by the father.
The girl was able to contact her friends in the United Kingdom and asked them to tell the British Embassy what was going on.
He said he put up a barrier partition to stop her running away because he was concerned for her welfare, which was taken down on the advice of the authorities.
“It is a form of caging”, he said. “She is now in peril from which she requires to be rescued”.
He added: “To do nothing at all would, in my view, be dereliction towards Amina”.
Solicitor Anne-Marie Hutchinson, who represented Miss Al-Jeffery, said the ruling was a landmark one and would help other British citizens overseas who found themselves facing similar problems.
The judge accepted that there was little to nothing he could do to enforce the order, but added it had “moral hold” over the father and warned he could be held in contempt if he returned to the United Kingdom without complying.
Mr Justice Holman however concluded that she has been denied freedom of movement – which could be described as “caged” – but not literally “in a cage”.
The judge said he had decided that he should take steps to protect Miss Al-Jeffery from London.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We recognise that this is a distressing time for Ms Al-Jeffery”. In a statement, they said they had been “providing assistance to [the girl] since the case was first brought to [their] attention and will continue to do so”.
“British embassy staff have met with her to check on her welfare and helped her speak to lawyers in the United Kingdom”.
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“We have got exactly what we wanted”.
