Amina Al-Jeffery: Swansea MP wants 'immediate action'

A school yearbook photograph of Amina Al-Jeffery

A Swansea MP has written to the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson demanding immediate action in the case of Amina Al-Jeffery.

Ms Al-Jeffery, 21, who has dual British and Saudi Arabian nationality, claims her father Mohammed Al-Jeffery locked her up and kept her against her will after she "kissed a guy".

He said he took her from Swansea to Jeddah in 2012 to "save her life".

Last week at the High Court in London, Mr Al-Jeffery denied the allegations.

A judgement on the case has been reserved until Wednesday.

In a letter to Mr Johnson, Swansea West MP Geraint Davies, said: "If Ms Al-Jeffery is being held against her will, she must be released immediately.

"Ms Al-Jeffery is 21 years old and no one, whatever their relationship to her, has the right to deprive her of her liberty.

"If these allegations are proven to be correct, the court must order her release and the government must take all the necessary measures to ensure her safe return.

"This is now a matter of urgency, so if she is being held against her will, I would ask that you take immediate action to ensure her release and uphold her human rights."

A friend of Ms Al-Jeffery in the UK - who wished to remain anonymous - told BBC Wales Today they have had contact with her whilst she has been in Saudi Arabia.

They said during a series of messages between October and December 2015, Ms Al-Jeffery had asked them to contact the British Embassy to inform them of her situation.

Ms Al-Jeffery also sent a picture of what she claimed to be the cage she had been kept in and said that she had been "under constant surveillance".

The friend also said Ms Al-Jeffery had described how she was "clinging on to sanity".

Mr Al-Jeffery claimed he took daughter to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia in order "save her life."

He said his daughter was not doing well at school, had been taking drugs and "going to clubs and spending time with older men".

In a statement the Foreign Office said: "We are providing assistance to a woman in Saudi Arabia.

"This has included visiting her and assisting her to speak to her lawyers in the UK as part of an ongoing legal process."

It said it would respond to Geraint Davies' letter in due course, once it has been received.