A woman is threatened with death, but the UK won’t openly acknowledge the claims for asylum, because after all we wouldn’t want to openly criticize the House of Saud.
What kind of rubbish is this? The human rights abuse kind.
A Saudi Arabian princess who had an illegitimate child with a British man has secretly been granted asylum in this country after she claimed she would face the death penalty if she were forced to return home. The young woman, who has been granted anonymity by the courts, won her claim for refugee status after telling a judge that her adulterous affair made her liable to death by stoning.
Her case is one of a small number of claims for asylum brought by citizens of Saudi Arabia which are not openly acknowledged by either government. British diplomats believe that to do so would in effect be to highlight the persecution of women in Saudi Arabia, which would be viewed as open criticism of the House of Saud and lead to embarrassing publicity for both governments.
This has particular significance for me, because every time I point to these types of things, American friends of the Saudis respond by saying King Abdullah is doing more for women than any other Saudi in his position has done.
It’s important to point out that perhaps, even as we maintain our important relationship with the Saudis, who are critical to any movement between Israel and the Palestinians, we should not hide our criticism of real issues where women are concerned. The barbarism of the Saudis shouldn’t be excused, nor should the West shy away from telling it like it is for fear the House of Saud won’t like it.
The other side of the coin is who is always waiting in the wings if King Abdullah acts too moderate, appearing to act against Islam. That’s his problem, not ours. …and before you say it could become our problem if the House of Saud fell, I don’t believe for one moment we’d let that happen.
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