RIYADH – A senior Saudi diplomat in the United States has denied reports that five Saudi young women living in the country replaced their student visas with “victim visas” following disputes with male members of their families. Muhammad Al-Eisa, attaché at the Saudi Cultural Bureau (SCB) under the embassy in Washington DC, said: “The reports are totally unfounded and baseless.” Saudi Gazette learned that the source of all these reports was a story posted on the website of the US Immigration Direct. The US report claimed there was a statement from the SCB confirming the incident. However, speaking to Saudi Gazette over the phone, Al-Eisa said the embassy had nothing to do with the report. The diplomat's reaction came amid a flurry of reports carried by newspapers or circulated online about the five women. These reports have also triggered a big controversy in Saudi Arabia over the alleged mistreatment of these young women who went to the US for higher studies. The report claim that these women replaced their visas after heated arguments with male family members back home. In the US, women and children may be eligible for such visas if they have been the victim of a crime such as sexual harassment, rape, human trafficking, torture or abduction. According to the website, when these women are granted a changed status, their newfound feeling of safety comes at a price, as they are no longer eligible to receive economic support from the SCB. While the embassy and the SCB try their best to fix family and spousal issues peacefully, these efforts often go unresolved and the victim visa serves as a last resort, the report said. The US report, apparently quoting an SCB source, said many of the girls argue that they do not feel safe going back to their husbands or to their families in Saudi Arabia, so they opt for giving up their student visas and the financial assistance provided by the Saudi government and apply for the victim visa that allows them to stay in the US and receive assistance. The report said women come to the United States from Saudi Arabia to study at American universities. As this decision is controversial in the home country, many feel their safety will be compromised if they return home, the report said. To protect these women, the US government allows them to remain in the country and often provides assistance in looking for a job, academic scholarship and money for food and shelter, it said. Readers of websites carrying the report were also criticizing these women. One of the comments said: “Perhaps, the perceived freedom made them astounded. “Let them do what they want in this world and hereafter. “If they want justice without corruption, Saudi Arabia is the country of justice. “Here the judge rules on ‘khula' (divorce sought by woman) if she does not want her husband…” Another reader said: “I encourage all Saudis and Arabs to find a way out of their crisis. “Any man in the street has an opinion and the right to intervene with regard to her dress and way of life.”
