Precis

The women who make it and the ones who don't.

"My name is Rahaf Mohammed. I'm 18 years old... They have my passport and tomorrow they will force me to go back...Please help me. They will kill me." Rahaf Al Qunun.

It was a voice of desperation, an urgent SOS to the world. A Saudi teenager, trapped in transit, on the run from her family and the Saudi state, hoping to make it to Australia.

"I planned my escape...I planned it at dawn, paid for my tickets, left in the morning while my family slept and arrived at the airport." Rahaf Al Qunun.

Within hours #saverahaf lit up social media and set off global headlines.

"There was no going back for Rahaf now...I couldn't live with myself if this was a real person and I didn't do what I could to help her." Author.

Four Corners reporter Sophie McNeill flew to Bangkok, slipped past security and joined Rahaf Al Qunun as the young woman barricaded herself inside the room.

"An official...has just knocked on the door and tried to get Rahaf to leave, she's refused... they've tried all sorts of ways of enticing her out of the room." Sophie McNeill, reporter.

On Monday Four Corners reveals how the extraordinary events unfolded, using exclusive previously unseen video recorded by both Sophie McNeill and Rahaf herself. The program captures moments of high tension, despair and eventual jubilation when Rahaf is offered asylum in Canada.

Rahaf is one of the lucky ones; not every woman gains her freedom. In this dramatic investigation, Four Corners reveals how Australia has become a hotspot for women attempting to escape the oppressive Saudi regime. Not everyone makes it.

"They beat her. They taped her mouth shut. They bound her arms and legs together, and dragged her onto a plane kicking and screaming, and nobody did anything. This is a grown woman." Author.

The program shows the tactics used and the pressure applied to try to stop these young women.

"The Saudi state is active in exerting its diplomatic influence to try to interdict them."Human rights investigator.

Those lucky enough to make it to Australia say they are still at risk. The investigation has uncovered multiple cases of Saudi women here in Australia, living in fear, telling reporter Sophie McNeill of the attempts to intimidate or trick them into returning them home.

"They are trying to reach the girls and speak to them to convince them to return back to Saudi." Saudi woman in Australia.

BLACK

00:00

Night. Ext. Bangkok airport

Music

00:10

SOPHIE MCNEIL, REPORTER: 9pm at Bangkok airport on Saturday January the 5^th.

00:23

Interiors. Bangkok airport

Eighteen year old Saudi Arabian citizen Rahaf Mohammed Al Qunun arrives on a flight from Kuwait. She's desperate and on the run.

00:27

RAHAF MOHAMMED: I left from Kuwait during my family holiday.

00:40

Rahaf 100%

I planned my escape from my house, from my family and to the airport. This happened within a few hours. I planned it at dawn, paid for my tickets, left in the morning while my family slept and I arrived at the airport. So everything happened very quickly.

00:44

GFX: Visa

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Rahaf has a valid Australian tourist visa. She had planned to spend a few days in Bangkok before flying on to Melbourne and seek asylum in Australia. But she is stopped as soon as she gets off her flight.

58:20

Rahaf 100%

RAHAF MOHAMMED: A man approached me, he lied to me and said he was going to help me obtain a visa to Thailand.

01:16

Bangkok airport interiors

The truth was he worked for the Saudi embassy, he took my passport.

01:23

Rahaf 100%

The reason was, my family informed officials that I was missing, and I must return.

01:28

Bangkok airport interiors

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Rahaf is detained and told she has no choice but to return on the next flight despite her insistence this will place her in danger.  She is told her passport is cancelled and she won't be allowed into Thailand.

01:36

iPhone footage of immigration official

THAI IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL: You cannot videotape me.

RAHAF MOHAMMED: No, you just told me I have to come back to Saudi Arabia, you said that.

THAI IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, you have to.

RAHAF MOHAMMED: Why?

THAI IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL: Because your visa is not granted. Okay, when you are rejected…

RAHAF MOHAMMED: But I'm in dangerous.

01:54

iPhone footage continues

THAI IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL: Huh?

RAHAF MOHAMMED: I'm in dangerous.

THAI IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL: You're dangerous?

RAHAF MOHAMMED: Yeah, it is so dangerous to me.

THAI IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL: What do you mean so dangerous to you?

02:19

RAHAF MOHAMMED: Saudi Arabia.

THAI IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL: Uh huh.

RAHAF MOHAMMED: So I can't go back.

02:16

THAI IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL: You can go back. You just have to board the Kuwait Airlines plane.

RAHAF MOHAMMED: Not Saudi Arabia.

THAI IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL:  Not Saudi Arabia. Because you came in with Kuwait Airlines, right?

RAHAF MOHAMMED: Yeah.

02:19

THAI IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL: It's going to be flight KU412 tomorrow at 11.15

RAHAF MOHAMMED: Uh huh.

02:29

iPhone shots. Walking to hotel room

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Rahaf is sent to the airport transit hotel under guard and blocked from leaving. She sends out an urgent SOS message.

02:36

GFX: Tweet

TWEET: I am the girl who escaped from Kuwait to Thailand, my life is at stake and I am now in real danger if I am forcibly returned to Saudi Arabia.

02:49

GFX: #SaveRahaf tweets

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Her plight spreads on social media, reaching activists around the world.

MONA ELTAHAWY, FEMINIST AUTHOR: I couldn't live with myself if this was a real person,

02:58

Mona Eltahawy 100%. Super:
MONA ELTAHAWY
Feminist Author

and I didn't do what I could to help her. So of course, I, I went and checked her Tweets after, and then I began to translate them into English

03:11

CU Phone. Twitter account

and then I just asked people, you know, just Tweet about this.

03:18

Eltahawy 100%

Then I DM'd her, and I said to her, "Rahaf, we need to see your face. People need to see you, so that they can believe that you exist."

03:23

iPhone video. Rahaf.

RAHAF MOHAMMED: My name is Rahaf Mohammed. I'm 18 years old. I can't do anything because they have my passport and tomorrow they will force me to go back to Kuwait and I'm here. Please help me they will kill me."

03:30

Bangkok airport. Morning

SOPHIE MCNEILL: I saw Rahaf's tweets on Sunday morning

03:54

McNeill on phone to Rahaf

and made contact with her.

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Has anybody come to your room to help you?

RAHAF MOHAMMED: No.

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Can you leave your room or what, are they outside?

RAHAF MOHAMMED: I have security outside.

03:57

Bangkok airport. Plane landing

SOPHIE MCNEILL: I flew to Bangkok to cover her story.

04:16

Bangkok airport interiors

Music

04:23

SOPHIE MCNEILL: By the time I arrive, she is due to be deported within hours.

04:28

iPhone video. Transit hotel corridor, into Rahaf's room.

I slip past the security guards and join Rahaf inside her hotel room.

04:35

Rahaf lying on bed

RAHAF MOHAMMED: I'm hungry and tired.

SOPHIE MCNEILL: When was the last time you slept?

RAHAF MOHAMMED: Three days ago.

SOPHIE MCNEILL: What about ate properly?

04:48

RAHAF MOHAMMED: What?

SOPHIE MCNEILL: When was the last time you ate properly?

RAHAF MOHAMMED: I think yesterday.

SOPHIE MCNEILL: So no food today, yeah?

RAHAF MOHAMMED: Uh-huh.

04:58

Airport interior

SOPHIE MCNEILL: How long are you planning on staying in the room?

05:09

Rahaf lying on bed

RAHAF MOHAMMED: I don't know. As I can.

05:13

Rahaf puts mattresses up against the door

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Rahaf decides to barricade herself inside this room.

05:17

Rahaf to camera

RAHAF MOHAMMED: I'm not leaving my room until I see UNHCR. I want asylum.

05:29

NBC News report

NEWS PRESENTER: The dramatic plea to the UN from 18-year-old Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun of Saudi Arabia.

RAHAF MOHAMMED: I'm not leaving my room until I see UNHCR.

05:37

News report

NEWS PRESENTER: More than a day after her arrival 18-year-old Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun was still barricading herself in her hotel room…

05:48

News report

NEWS PRESENTER: This is Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun in one of the many desperate pleas for help that she has been sending out on

05:57

Australian news report

social media…

NEWS PRESENTER: She's believed to be the daughter of a senior Saudi government official.

06:03

Eltahawy 100%. Super:
MONA ELTAHAWY
Feminist Author

MONA ELTAHAWY: There was no going back for Rahaf now, so not only has she escaped. Not only has she said, "I'm asking for asylum." Not only has she said, "I renounce Islam." Not only has she said, "My family will kill me if I go back," but we now find out that her father is a very important man. So that, it's just a combination of all of these things, and it just made it even more urgent that this ... there is no way this young woman can be sent back on a plane to Saudi Arabia.

06:12

Rahaf in hotel room

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Rahaf knows other Saudi women who managed to escape to Australia successfully.

06:38

Rahaf interview in hotel room

RAHAF MOHAMMED: I have a friend there and she said it's a good country, they have rights for women and I can work, I can study there. So that's why I want to go to Australia. I read a lot about the weather and what can I do in Australia, some stuff, and meeting people, and beach. A lot of things like this.

06:47

SOPHIE MCNEILL: What did you learn about women in Australia?

07:23

RAHAF MOHAMMED: About what? About women? Their rights? They have everything, like everything. You can do everything that we can't do.

07:26

Knocking on hotel room door

SOPHIE MCNEILL: As the hours pass there are people outside the room trying to get Rahaf to open the door.

07:39

Rahaf goes to door

RAHAF MOHAMMED: Yes? Who are you?

ALI: Ali, it's Ali.

RAHAF MOHAMMED: It's Ali.

07:49

RAHAF MOHAMMED: Yes? What do you want?

ALI: Open the door. What's wrong with you?

RAHAF MOHAMMED: I can't open the door.

ALI: Huh?

RAHAF MOHAMMED: I can't.

07:58

ALI: Why?

RAHAF MOHAMMED: Just because.

ALI: Alright, can you open the door just a bit?

RAHAF MOHAMMED: Kuwait airlines.

08:04

McNeill to camera

SOPHIE MCNEILL: An official from Kuwait Airways has just knocked at the door and tried to get Rahaf to leave; she's refused. She's made a barricade with a table and some mattresses and they've tried all kinds of ways of enticing her out of the room, offering breakfast and then lunch and she says that she's not leaving, and that she wants to speak to the UN.

08:20

Rahaf in  barricaded hotel room

Thai officials are now at the door telling Rahaf she has to leave.

THAI OFFICIAL: You don't have asylum in this country, you cannot take asylum in Thailand.

RAHAF MOHAMMED: You don't have asylum?

THAI OFFICIAL: Not here in Thailand.

08:43

McNeill to camera

SOPHIE MCNEILL: The Thais are saying that Rahaf hasn't formally sought asylum, and she hasn't, because she hasn't had the chance. She's been asking, and I've witnessed this since 7 a.m. this morning, asking to talk to Thai immigration officials to say she wants to seek asylum, to formally make that claim, but they never came. She asked for two hours; so before she barricaded herself in the room she was trying to do that but wasn't given the chance.

09:00

Rahaf in hotel room, looking at phone

Music

09:27

Time passes inside room 303. Then a small victory as we learn that the flight they were trying to force Rahaf on has left.

SOPHIE MCNEILL: The Kuwait airways flight has left.

RAHAF MOHAMMED: Seriously?

SOPHIE MCNEILL: There's an Egypt airways flight in 15 minutes, but the Kuwait flight has left.

RAHAF MOHAMMED: Ah good.

09:35

Knock at barricaded hotel room door

[knock at door]

THAI WOMAN: Excuse me madam?

SOPHIE MCNEILL: There's more people at the door trying again to entice Rahaf out. They claim the UN is here, but we know from checking with contacts that is a lie.

10:08

[knock at door]

THAI WOMAN: Madam, excuse me. We will not send you back to your country. Don't be worried.

10:22

Rahaf at Australian immigration department website on phone

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Rahaf logs into her Australian immigration profile... but her account no longer seems to be working.

SOPHIE MCNEILL: "That's your Australian visa account? It looks like it's been cancelled."

RAHAF MOHAMMED: Shit.

SOPHIE MCNEILL: It didn't look like this before?

RAHAF MOHAMMED: No.

10:33

Bangkok airport exterior

Music

11:02

Hotel room

11:07

Rahaf sleeping

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Rahaf's been in this room for more than 24 hours.

11:10

BBC News report

JONATHON HEAD, BBC News: Well, throughout today this hotel has been the scene of extraordinary comings and goings with officials going in an out trying to persuade the young Saudi woman to come out of her room. At one point we thought she'd be deported, now we know that Thailand has given her an entry permit, the UN is involved and her request for asylum they say will be properly assessed.

11:22

Rahaf and McNeill in hotel room

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Inside the room, we have heard nothing officially from the UN.

11:44

There's another knock at the door... the UNHCR is here.

11:53

UNHCR OFFICIAL: Can you please open the door for us?

RAHAF MOHAMMED: ID, ID?

UNHCR OFFICIAL: Sorry?

RAHAF MOHAMMED: ID.

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Rahaf doesn't believe at first that it's them.

RAHAF MOHAMMED: You have to prove.

11:59

Rahaf unblocks doorway

Music

12:12

McNeill in hotel lobby with UN officials

SOPHIE MCNEILL:  So the UNHCR officials would only come into Rahaf's room if I came out and they

12:32

McNeill to camera in hotel lobby. Super:
SOPHIE MCNEILL

looked me in the eye and they promised that she would be safe now they said she would remain in their custody and that they would do everything in their powers to make sure that nothing happened to her and they are now conducting an interview with Rahaf about her asylum claims and this is what they promised. 

12:40

Stills. Rahaf surrounded by UN officials and Thai police

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Rahaf is taken to a hotel downtown under tight Thai police guard.

12:59

Ext. Airport. Night.

The next day her father and brother fly into Bangkok to try to force her home.

13:09

Meeting between Saudi and Thai officials.

The Saudi embassy meets with Thai officials on their behalf.

13:17

SAUDI OFFICIAL: I wish they had taken her phone instead of her passport.

13:23

Peter Dutton walks

SOPHIE MCNEILL: There is pressure on Australia to take Rahaf.

13:28

Dutton press interview. Super:
PETER DUTTON
Minister for Home Affairs

PETER DUTTON, HOME AFFAIRS MINISTER: There is no special treatment in this case, the case will be assessed by the United Nations and therefore it doesn't make it different to any other case of that nature.

13:33

Still. Rahaf with UNHCR signage behind her

SOPHIE MCNEILL: The UNHCR approves Rahaf's asylum claim under a fast track system for those facing immediate threats to their life.

13:45

Exteriors. Australian Embassy Bangkok

They refer her case to Australia and Rahaf is taken to the Australian Embassy in Bangkok to process her case.

13:57

Marise Payne arrival

The next day, Foreign Minister Marise Payne arrives in the Thai capital on a short visit.

14:05

Payne press interview. SUPER:
MARISE PAYNE
Minister for Foreign Affairs

MARISE PAYNE, FOREIGN MINISTER: There is no possibility that Ms. Alqunun will be going back with me as you put it today. That is because there are steps which are required in the process which Australia, and any other country considering such a matter, would have to go through. We will go through those according to our own system and our own processes.

REPORTER: Is there a time frame for that?

MARISE PAYNE: Not a specific time frame, no.

14:15

Stills. Rahaf and Canadian official

SOPHIE MCNEILL: By Friday morning there is still no decision from Australia - and the UN is increasingly worried about Rahaf's security. They take her to the Canadian embassy where her visa is approved in a matter of hours. She will fly out to Toronto tonight.

14:37

Toronto skyline

Music

14:58

Arrivals hall. Toronto airport. Rahaf and Freeland. Super:
CHRYSTIA FREELAND
Canadian Foreign Minister

CANADIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CHRYSTIA FREELAND: Everyone please… I'll give the flowers to Rahaf… So everyone this is Rahaf Alqunun, a very brave new Canadian.

15:06

Rahaf and McNeill hug

SOPHIE MCNEILL: I travelled to Canada to meet up again with Rahaf. She still can't believe she made it. SOPHIE MCNEILL: You look beautiful.

15:25

Rahaf 100%

RAHAF MOHAMMED: I felt that I was free and that I was born again. It was an amazing thing and made me happy because I felt loved and welcomed. Freedom is the most important thing for a person. I gave everything up to be free.

15:43

Women in Saudi

Music

16:00

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Under Saudi Arabia's male guardianship system, a man controls a woman's life from birth until her death. Every Saudi woman must have a male guardian, normally a father or husband, who has the power to make critical decisions on her behalf.

16:07

Rahaf 100%

RAHAF MOHAMMED: I'm not allowed to marry the person I want. I'm not allowed to get a job without the permission of my guardian. The guardianship laws determine a woman's pathway...her employment, her job, even travel isn't allowed. Saudi women are treated like minors even if they're 50 or 60 years old.

16:27

Eltahawy 100%. Super:
MONA ELTAHAWY
Feminist Author

MONA ELTAHAWY, FEMINIST AUTHOR: Sometimes that male guardian can be the teenage son of a professor, who just doesn't feel like giving her the permission she needs to travel. So this is incredible power given to their male guardians that renders them -- renders women in Saudi Arabia perpetual minors, and I call this state-sanctioned patriarchy a form of gender apartheid.

16:45

Women in Saudi

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Escaping is not easy.

17:07

ADAM COOGLE, MIDDLE EAST RESEARCHER, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: There's really two methods for doing this that I've seen. One is they hack into their father's phone and change the permission settings for their travel, they steal their passport somehow, if they don't have it, and you know, run to the airport, get out of the country, you know, as soon as they can.

17:13

Coogle 100%. Super:
ADAM COOGLE
Middle East Researcher,
Human Rights Watch

The other method is if the family takes a vacation, they flee and abscond while outside the country. So we have seen in some instances when women do this, they try to flee abroad to other places, the Saudi state is active in exerting its diplomatic influence to try to interdict them.

17:29

Still. Dina on plane

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Saudi woman Dina Ali Lasloom is one of those that tried to escape to Australia but didn't make it.

17:47

Philippines airline plane on tarmac/ airport interior

In April 2017, the 24-year-old was stopped in the Philippines while she was in transit on her way to Sydney.

17:57

Reconstruction. Dina approaches Meagan Khan at airport. Super:
Reconstruction

MEAGAN KHAN: She came up to me. And I was like, "Hi." And she said, "Hi." She said, "Can I use your cell phone?" And I asked,

18:06

Meagan 100%. Super:
MEAGAN KHAN

"Why?" And she said, "I've, something's wrong with my flight." I said,

18:13

Return to reconstruction

"Okay. Sure." And I gave her my cell phone.

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Canadian Meagan Khan was sitting in the Manila airport transit lounge

18:17

Still. Dina

when she was approached by Dina Ali.

18:26

Return to reconstruction

She told Meagan that her passport had been confiscated by an official from the Saudi embassy. Meagan was with her as she tried to talk to Philippine Airlines staff.

18:30

Meagan 100%.

MEAGAN KHAN: They said, "I'm sorry, but an important person called and told us to hold her documents and not allow her to leave." And they did not tell me who this important person was.

18:43

Return to reconstruction

She was crying, she was like, "Meagan, they're not trying to help me. They're not listening to me. They're just waiting for my family to come who wants to kill me."

18:53

Meagan 100%

And that was the first time she said that to me, and that's when I was, "What are you talking about?" And that's when she started sharing, "Meagan, I'm Saudi and I'm not allowed to go anywhere on my own.

19:02

Return to reconstruction

I wasn't allowed to travel on my own. I'm trying to get to Australia to seek asylum.

19:13

Meagan 100%

I couldn't believe it, to be honest. I was in complete shock.

19:18

Return to reconstruction

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Dina Ali told Meagan she had escaped from a violent family and a life with no freedom to make her own decisions.

19:22

The two young women began to desperately try and contact anyone who could help.

MEAGAN KHAN: We tried to call a lot of human rights numbers that we were literally Googling off online. We were calling everyone. Her friends were sending us Snapchat. We were literally just in mission mode. Our mission was to find someone to come into the airport and help us. And

19:31

MEAGAN 100%

I called every single person possible. I called the police station in Manila, I called the local Manila newspapers.

19:57

Return to reconstruction

I left voice mails for dozens of people.

20:03

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Dina Ali asked Meagan to record a video documenting her plight.

20:07

Khan's video of Dina

DINA ALI: My name is Dina Ali and I'm a Saudi woman who fled Saudi Arabia to Australia to seek asylum. I stopped in Philippines for transit. They took my transit and block me for 13 hours just because I'm a Saudi woman. With the collaboration of the Saudi embassy. If my family come they will kill me. If I go back to Saudi Arabia I will be dead. Please help me. I'm recording this video to help me and know that I'm real and here.

20:14

Airport arrivals

SOPHIE MCNEILL: And then Dina Ali's worst fears were realised.

20:42

Meagan 100%

MEAGAN KHAN: And I remember, she was sitting, eating a sandwich and she was holding it, and then she just stopped. And I was, I looked at her, and I'm like, "What's wrong?" And she said, "Meagan, they're here." And I was like, "What?" She said, "Meagan, they're here. Send the video." And I was like, "What are you talking about?" And I turned around and I saw these two guys and this lady, and I said, and -- to be honest, one of the uncles looks a lot like Dina. And I said, "Is that your uncles?" And she's like, "Those are my uncles." And I'm like, "Oh my God."

20:50

Still. Dina with uncles

Music

21:28

Reconstruction. Dina talking with uncles. Super:
Reconstruction

MEAGAN KHAN: And I was sitting back down, trying to take pictures, and at this point, her uncle got up, and

21:35

Meagan 100%

he's like, "What are you doing? Give the -- don't take pictures! Give me your phone! Delete those pictures!"

21:39

Meagan's video of Dina appealing to airline staff

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Meagan filmed Dina Ali pleading with airline staff for help.

21:45

DINA ALI: Don't confuse me. I know him. No. He's not my father. He's not my father. You're not helping. You don't know him.

21:51

Meagan 100%

MEAGAN KHAN: That's when I was, like, really, I was crying a lot and Dina was crying a lot at this point.

22:01

Meagan's video of Dina appealing to airline staff

DINA ALI: I beg for you I beg. No one help me. No one help me. No you don't… He's not my father. You are not helping… This is the worst airlines. No one help me. All just treat me bad.

22:05

Reconstruction. Dina and Meagan hug

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Dina Ali's uncles left the transfer area... A man purporting to be a lawyer arrived, promising to help get back her Ali's passport and ticket. Feeling hopeful it was going to be okay, Meagan Khan went to catch her flight.

22:26

Meagan 100%

MEAGAN KHAN: I heard from Dina the next morning. She called me. And when she called me, she was crying. And she said, my uncles tricked me, and they tried to get me onto a flight back to Saudi Arabia. And they have me locked up in a room right now.

22:47

She was crying and she told me she was beaten and I felt ... like ... I guess I didn't care really how I felt. I think I was in shock. I- I was like, I need help. I like, what am I doing? Why did I leave? I felt really bad. I felt really bad. I felt like I left her. I felt like I left her...

23:04

Passenger's film of Dina being dragged to plane

WOMAN:  She has human rights.

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Another passenger filmed as Dina was dragged screaming to the plane.

MAN: No, they say they're from the Embassy.

23:35

Coogle 100%. Super:
ADAM COOGLE
Middle East Researcher,
Human Rights Watch

ADAM COOGLE: Well the guard who had been responsible for keeping an eye on Dina while she was at the airport hotel, he was really quite horrified by what he had seen.

23:52

Eltahawy 100%. Super:
MONA ELTAHAWY
Feminist Author

MONA ELTAHAWY: They beat her. They taped her mouth shut. They bound her arms and legs together, and dragged her onto a plane kicking and screaming, and nobody did anything.

23:59

Coogle 100%

ADAM COOGLE: They essentially forcibly abducted her and took her to the aeroplane, and these would've been apparently her uncles as well as airline officials. Duct taped Dina's mouth shut, they duct taped her hands together, they duct taped her to a wheelchair, threw a blanket over her.

24:10

Saudi Airways plane on runway

And we did hear from other passengers who landed in Riyadh that a woman was dragged onto the plane screaming.

24:27

Still. Dina

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Dina Ali Lasloom has not been heard of publicly since.

24:40

Meagan 100%

MEAGAN KHAN: I wish I could say we could have done better, if I could do a list of things we did better, I would. You know, one of those would be I wouldn't have left. It's not worth it to leave. It's better to stay. It's better to stay. It's not an expensive flight to be there for. It's ... it's just a phone. You know, this person's life. Give them the phone. You know, there's thing I learnt in that situation that I would do differently for her.

24:49

Eltahawy 100%

MONA ELTAHAWY: What happened to Dina Ali now has become this awful traumatising worse-case scenario for Saudi women who try to escape and seek asylum.

25:18

Ext. Saudi embassy, Manila. GFX:
family matter
returned with her relatives to the homeland

SOPHIE MCNEILL: The Saudi embassy in Manila issued a statement calling the case a "family matter" saying Dina Ali "returned with her relatives to the homeland."

25:27

Coogle 100%

ADAM COOGLE: What we understand, and we've heard from sources inside Saudi Arabia, is that she was taken to a women's shelter in Riyadh and held there for a period of time. After that the trail more or less goes cold and there's not a lot of public information.

24:42

Saudi woman

SOPHIE MCNEILL: But in Saudi Arabia women's shelters operate more like de-facto prisons, and alleged abusers of women are protected by the state.

25:56

Coogle 100%

ADAM COOGLE: Saudi women who attempt to approach police, for example, to report abuse by a male family member for example, sometimes they go to a police station or they call the police station and somebody there will tell them, well you can't -- you know, you can't come here, you can't make a complaint unless your male guardian is with you. And in many cases that person would be the abuser.

26:12

Satellite Google map, photos of Dar al Reaya – Riyadh

SOPHIE MCNEILL: It's believed Dina Ali was initially taken here, to a closed women's 'shelter' in Riyadh. These state-run institutions called Dal Al Reayas are where women who disobey the male guardship system or 'shame' their families end up - including victims of domestic violence. They are found in cities and towns throughout Saudi Arabia.

26:33

Coogle 100%

ADAM COOGLE: When they enter, many of them don't realise that these shelters are entirely closed, right? Once they go in they can't get out. The state isn't going to release them to go live on their own.

27:07

al-Sharif 100%. Super:
MANAL AL-SHARIF
Saudi Activist

MANAL AL-SHARIF: You're treated in an undignified way, as a prisoner, not as a survivor, or a victim of domestic violence. So you're locked, you're not allowed to finish your education or get a job. You're not allowed to even make phone calls. So the way they treat women in shelters, government run shelters, was really humiliating to women.

27:19

al-Sharif giving talk at university

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Manal al-Sharif is one of Saudi Arabia's most renowned female rights activists. She now lives in self-imposed exile in Sydney.

27:43

MANAL AL-SHARIF: 2 a.m. they knock at my , the secret police and that means you are a threat to the national security in my country.

27:53

al-Sharif 100%.

MANAL AL-SHARIF: But the worst part is not being locked in that shelter, the worst part, you can't leave that shelter without having a male guardian getting you out of there, and that male guardian could be your abusive husband, your abusive father or brother. So, what do they do, they find them husbands, who are willing to marry them. That's the reality of women who run away from abusive relationship in Saudi Arabia.

28:00

Coogle 100%. Super:
ADAM COOGLE
Middle East Researcher,
Human Rights Watch

ADAM COOGLE: In some cases we've actually seen them encourage women to get married to strangers who will take them out and then become their new male guardians. And some women actually do that. They just say, you know, we'll roll the dice and hopefully we'll have a better chance with a new person.

28:23

President Trump and Crown Prince Mohamad Bin Salman

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We've become very good friends over a very short period of time.

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Since Saudi Crown Prince Mohamad Bin Salman took power in 2017, he's been selling himself to the world as a reformer.

28:37

'60 Minutes' interview excerpt.

NORAH O'DONNELL, 60 MINUTES: Are women equal to men?

28:52

MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN: Absolutely. We are all human beings and there is no difference.

28:54

SOPHIE MCNEILL: MBS, as he is known, proudly announced that Saudi women, would be finally given the right to drive.

28:59

MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN: This is no longer an issue. Today, driving schools have been established and will open soon. In a few months women will drive in Saudi Arabia. We are finally over that painful period that we cannot justify.

29:06

al-Sharif video in car driving

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Manal al-Sharif was briefly jailed in 2011 for staging a protest calling for women to be allowed to drive. She was excited by the thought of real reform in her home country - but it didn't last.

29:20

al-Sharif 100%

MANAL AL-SHARIF: So I was really hopeful, and I think it wasn't only me, it was a lot of Saudi youth. And when the arrest happened, I knew that's the moment that it is not what we thought. It was all a propaganda.

29:41

Billboard showing Saudi royal family members

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Just before the driving ban was lifted, the Crown Prince oversaw a brutal crackdown,

29:55

Stills. Arrested Saudi women

arresting the Saudi women who had spent years campaigning for the right to drive.

30:03

Still. Manal and Loujain

One of Manal's closest friends, Loujain Al Hathoul, was among those thrown in jail.

MANAL AL-SHARIF: On March 15, 2018, Loujain was kidnapped from Abu Dhabi.

30:10

al-Sharif 100%

She was handcuffed, blindfolded, flown on a private jet to Riyadh

30:23

Still. Loujain

where she was interrogated and placed under a travel ban.

30:30

al-Sharif 100%

In May, like a few weeks before the official date of lifting the ban,

30:36

Still. Loujain

she was placed in solitary confinement, in a place that no one knows, even her own family didn't know where she was.

30:41

al-Sharif 100%

There was like a wave of arrests amongst female activists.

30:48

Still. Aziza al-Yousef

Aziza al-Yousef, she's a grandmother, she's also a professor.

30:52

Still. Eman al-Nafjan

Eman al-Nafjan, she's a professor, and a blogger, a very famous blogger in English language.

30:58

al-Sharif 100%

She's a mother of four kids, her youngest is a toddler, and this woman who's been put in custody without allegation, without charges, without trial, without access to lawyers or her family, or her kids, who are these people doing this?

31:04

Coogle 100%

ADAM COOGLE: One of the reasons I think that MBS and Saudi authorities moved against these women is they didn't want them claiming credit for reforms. They did not want the image that women had campaigned, had generated international pressure, and that Saudi Arabia had capitulated to that pressure. They wanted it instead to look like MBS had decided to become a benevolent ruler and liberate his women.

31:21

Exterior. Saudi embassy

SOPHIE MCNEILL: The Saudi Government also tried to pressure Manal al-Sharif to stay quiet about the lifting of the ban.

31:41

al-Sharif 100%

MANAL AL-SHARIF: I received a phone call from the National Security asking me not to talk about it or Tweet about it. And I was in Australia, that was really strange, how did they get my Australian number?

31:51

Exterior. Saudi embassy, Canberra

SOPHIE MCNEILL: They encouraged her to visit Saudi Arabia, but she now believes they had sinister motives.

MANAL AL-SHARIF: And they were really keen. They asked me to go to the embassy here, they were really keen to grant my son a visa,

32:02

al-Sharif 100%

and apparently were just luring me to go back to Saudi Arabia to be put in jail. I barely escaped a very ill fate, that is being served by my friends who fought for women's right in my country.

SOPHIE MCNEILL: So you believe that they were trying to lure you back, Manal?

MANAL AL-SHARIF: Yes. Yes.

32:17

SOPHIE MCNEILL: And what do you think would've happened if you'd gone back?

MANAL AL-SHARIF: I would definitely be in jail. Definitely.

32:40

Still. Loujain

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Human Rights groups say the Saudi women activists have been tortured and abused in jail.

32:46

Eltahawy 100%. SUPER:
MONA ELTAHAWY
Feminist Author

MONA ELTAHAWY: They said that they'd been subjected to electric shocks, flogging, and sexual harassment, and one of the relatives said that their detained relative could barely walk when they met them, some of them had been hung from the ceiling.

32:56

The Wall Street Journal also broke the story that Saud al-Quhtani, the same aide who was the one who conveyed MBS's orders to kill Jamal Khashoggi, was in the room when Loujain al-Hathloul was subjected to water- waterboarding, and that he, himself, threatened her with rape, and threatened to murder her.

33:07

Coogle 100%. Super:
ADAM COOGLE
Middle East Researcher,
Human Rights Watch

ADAM COOGLE: Women have reported that they were subjected to various forms of brutal torture including electric shocks, including whippings, including sexual harassment, verbal threats, verbal threats of rape included as well.

33:25

Hong Kong skyline and GVS

Music

33:43

Saudi Embassy Hong Kong

SOPHIE MCNEILL: The Saudis are increasingly working to enforce male guardianship outside their borders.

33:53

McNeill at Hong Kong airport

I've come to Hong Kong to learn what happened to two Saudi sisters who were in transit here on their way to Sydney in September last year.

34:04

Hong Kong GVs

News of their plight emerged via twitter.

34:14

GFX tweet:
Help me please they will kill me i'm stuck in hong kong i'm saudi girl with my sister.

Tweet: Help me please. They will kill me. I'm stuck in Hong Kong. I'm Saudi girl with my sister.

34:21

Interior. Hong Kong airport arrivals

SOPHIE MCNEILL: The Saudi consul general was waiting for them when their plane landed. He confronted them at the airport.

34:28

GFX tweet:  Tweet: I came her transit from Colombo to go to Australia but Consulate General of Saudi Arabia take my passport and cancel my flight.

Tweet: I came her transit from Colombo to go to Australia but Consulate General of Saudi Arabia take my passport and cancel my flight.

37:37

Interior. Hong Kong airport departures

SOPHIE MCNEILL: The sisters had valid Australian visas. They booked seats on the next Qantas flight but an Australian Border Force official working in Hong Kong airport blocked them from boarding.

34:47

Tweet: I book another flight and they tell the immigration guy that I'm going to take asylums and he did'nt allow us to go! Please my family will kill me if I back to saudi please help us

Tweet: I book another flight and they tell the immigration guy that I'm going to take asylums and he didn't allow us to go! Please, my family will kill me if I back to Saudi. Please help us

35:01

Driving shot. Hong Kong

SOPHIE MCNEILL: The young women managed to flee the airport - but they remain trapped here in Hong Kong.

35:14

Hong Kong skyline

The Department of Home Affairs cancelled their visas.

35:21

Hong Kong market GVs

The girls' passports have been cancelled,

35:26

McNeill to camera

but there is no way they are going anywhere near the Saudi consulate to get them renewed. They have now been living here in hiding for four months, moving locations several times to avoid their family or Saudi authorities tracking them down.

35:33

Rahaf 100%

RAHAF MOHAMMED: They share my story. I hope they reach a safe country and are not forced to return or kidnapped. Help them, and don't stand in their way. they really need your help so that they can reach a safe country.

35:48

McNeill visits safe house apartment

SOPHIE MCNEILL: I've come to an apartment in the western suburbs of Sydney that is now being used as a safe house.

36:09

Women on balcony of safe house

At least 80 Saudi women have sought asylum in Australia in the last few years. These young women are among them. Yet even here, they won't reveal their identities because they don't feel safe. They all have harrowing stories of escape.

36:25

Rawan interview in silhouette

RAWAN: It took me five years to plan it. So every time I try it just fail. So eventually it succeeded. We booked a late flight when he was asleep. So that gave us time to, to escape, yeah.

36:46

Nourah interview in silhouette

NOURAH: In one week I took everything I need. One small bag. Nothing, nothing important. Just my life and my freedom. And I escaped. It wasn't easy, it's a long journey to be here in Australia. But it's worth it.

37:03

Sydney airport international arrivals

Music

37:29

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Even when Saudi women manage to make it all the way here there's no guarantee they will get in.

37:35

We have been told that Saudi women who arrive alone in Australian airports are being asked by Border Force officials why they are not travelling with a male guardian.

37:45

McNeill to camera at airport

Four Corners has evidence of two young Saudi women arriving at Sydney airport, and when they made their asylum claims clear to Australian officials  they were turned back.

37-58

McNeill with women at safe house

Two of these women went to the airport to pick up their friend but she never came out.

38:10

Ranya interview in silhouette

RANYA: She was planning to apply asylum here, she came from Saudi to Indonesia and from Indonesia to Sydney.

SOPHIE MCNEILL: They have not heard from since.

38:17

RANYA: Then since that time I never heard about her or what happening to her. We tried actually to reach her, but we haven't heard from her anymore again. Hopefully she's alive.

SOPHIE MCNEILL: But you don't know?

RANYA: But we don't know what happened to her.

38:30

Women in safe house apartment with McNeill

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Some of the women here say they have been harassed and intimidated by Saudi men living in Australia - trying to coerce them into returning home.

38+52

Four Corners has established that one of those men works for the Saudi Ministry of Interior.

39:02

RANYA: I don't know how actually they got my email address.

39:10

SOPHIE MCNEILL: And what did he say?

RANYA: He just tried to meet me actually. He said don't worry we will meet and chat. Of course, I refused and I said no way.

39:14

RAWAN: They're saying that we want to talk to you. Can we meet, can we meet up in a coffee shop? We can get you what you want, what you like. We can get you, we can, we can offer you anything you want.

39:25

They say nothing is going to happen to you if you go back, don't worry we'll try to talk with your male guardian there, it's ok, nothing's going to happen to you. They lie to us so we can go back and not talk about what's happening inside Saudi Arabia for women, so they want to keep us silent.

39:39

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Like the majority of the Saudi women in Australia these women are all here on bridging visas - they're terrified the Australian government might reject their asylum claims and send them back.

39:59

Nourah interview in silhouette

NOURAH: I live with this fear every day because I know what's going to happen to me if I went back to Saudi Arabia. It's really hard to say that, but I'm not going back. I prefer to kill myself, because anyway they will kill us but with torture.

40:14

Rahaf press conference

Music

40:42

SOPHIE MCNEILL: Rahaf Mohammed is now a free resident of Canada. Her dream is for women in Saudi Arabia to have the same rights she now has.

40:50

Rahaf 100%

RAHAF MOHAMMED: I don't wish for them to escape as I did but I do wish for the laws to change in Saudi Arabia so that nobody is forced to escape and give up everything in their life.

41:03

Rahaf press conference

MONA ELTAHAWY: When Rahaf escaped, and when Rahaf forced her issue onto the global consciousness, thereby forcing onto the global consciousness the status of women in Saudi Arabia,

41:16

Eltahawy 100%

I was like, thank you! Thank you, Rahaf! It took the plight of an 18-year-old young woman to finally make the world ask, "What the fuck is Saudi Arabia doing to women, that they are escaping?"

41:32

CUT TO BLACK

41:47

END

41:52