Saudi Arabia is banning large numbers of its own citizens from leaving the country in a “cruel” attempt to silence criticism, say human rights activists.
High-profile women’s rights campaigners, including Loujain al-Hathloul, who pushed for the right for women to drive in Saudi Arabia, and Maryam al-Otaibi, one of three sisters targeted by the authorities for their activism, appear to have been given long travel bans. These restrictions frequently extend to family members.
The apparent crackdown comes at the same time as the country is encouraging international tourists to visit and its hosting of leading cultural and sporting events, including the 2034 men’s Fifa World Cup.
“Saudi Arabia has really been in the spotlight over the imprisonment of political prisoners, including my sister. It was difficult to justify and brought negative PR. It is much easier for them to have travel bans to control people,” said Lina al-Hathloul, an activist and sister of Loujain.
“[These travel bans] are a new tactic to not only silence critics, but to make sure the people around them that could be their voice are also silenced. It’s a collective punishment on the family,” she added.
After being released from prison, many political and women’s rights activists are being given long travel bans. These are either publicly announced by a court or revealed when a person tries to leave the country and is barred from doing so by border officials.
The human rights organisation ALQST (al-qist means “justice” in Arabic) has published a list of 20 individuals under what it describes as “cruel and unlawful” court-imposed travel bans, but says there are likely to be many more subject to unofficial bans.
Loujain’s prison sentence included a travel ban on release of two years and 10 months, which was due to expire on 12 November 2023. Since then she has remained unable to travel, said ALQST, despite having received no formal notification from the authorities of any new ban, either judicial or administrative.
“They [former prisoners] can be seen in public life, which gives the impression of freedom to the outside world. But the authorities and the former prisoner know very well that they have to live in constant self-censorship, not able to voice their opinions, concerns or prison experiences,” said Lina.
In a response to UN requests for information, Saudi officials said that Loujain al-Hathloul and Maryam al-Otaibi were not subject to any restrictions “other than those set out in the final court judgment handed down to Loujain al-Hathloul, prohibiting her from travelling abroad for the period of time stipulated in the judgment, and in the administrative decision issued by the competent authority prohibiting Maryam al-Otaibi from travelling abroad”.
