As the last refuge after months of escaping their abusive father, Yemeni Huda Atas appeared in a video that went viral online, narrating the story of how she and her sisters have been under numerous threats by their father for years.
Using the hashtags #SaveHuda and ##انقذوا_هدي_العطاس_واخواتها (Save Huda Atas and her sisters), social media users are demanding that authorities in Egypt and Yemen cooperate to rescue the four Atas sisters and their mother who are hiding in the Yemeni Embassy in Cairo.
we are in serious danger we need your help @elenapanovaUN @JamesGavitt @RashaJarhum @shadenkhallaf @UNHumanRights @UNHCR_Arabic @UNEgypt @Refugees @UNHCREgypt @IOMEgypt #savehuda pic.twitter.com/1ZGkjdZeaN
— هدى العطاس واخواتها (@huda_atas) October 19, 2021
The video seems to have been recorded about a month ago, as Huda mentions "Last Sunday" and dates it as the 13th of September. Throughout the video, Huda talks about years-long abuse by her father, one that led him to file for parental disobedience and get them into Saudi jail for over a year.
Here's an Arabic report on #SaveHuda from @jaafarAbdulKari of the @dwnews talk show "Jaafar Talk."
Please spread the #SaveHuda story. Call on @UNHCREgypt to protect them.
Currently they're also without an income/savings and suffering from COVID. https://t.co/GSnMduahHf— James Gavitt (@JamesGavitt) October 20, 2021
Internet sources highlighted that she and her sisters were released later on due to a viral hashtag but were locked up in a social protection center for the remaining period. As soon as the Atas sisters were released, they were forcibly deported to Yemen before they successfully escaped to Egypt where they stayed at the Yemeni Embassy in Cairo for a while, before they had to leave again, describing the embassy as "dangerous" to them.
We are asking for the help of the @UNHumanRights and @UNHCREgypt to look at our case and provide us the protection that we need.our lives are in a serious danger in Egypt
— هدى العطاس واخواتها (@huda_atas) October 19, 2021
@KreaseChan @UNHCR_Arabic @UNVArabStates@UNICCairo @ICRC_ar @UNarabic@hrw @hrw_ar @tobycadman @IOMEgypt pic.twitter.com/Joq4g99xPu
Huda explains that the danger is still present as threats continue to pour onto them even while they hide in an unknown spot in Egypt.
Concluding her short video, Huda Atas calls on international organizations including ones operated by the United Nations to rescue her and her sisters and to help them reach "a safer place outside of the Arab World."
