SBS Arabic24 spoke with Saudi woman Amani AlEssa* who fled her homeland in 2016 before gaining a protection visa in Australia.

Now residing in Sydney, the 29-year-old said she was "lucky to escape" her homeland and considered it necessary to change her name following her defection.

She said leaving "was the only way".

"I was born and raised in Saudi Arabia and I was subjected to things that I can’t reveal so I won’t reveal my identity, but to escape the country was the only way, otherwise I would have been locked in the house for the rest of my life," she said.

It comes after the high-profile case of Saudi teen Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, who gained asylum in Canada after fleeing persectution in her homeland.

Secretly applying for a visa

Ms AlEssa detailed her path to Australia, which began when she secretly applied for a tourist visa online.

Australia is one of a handful of countries which doesn't require a visit to an embassy or consulate to apply for a visa.

"I was not allowed to leave the house, so I looked online to find countries that I can go to without having to actually apply for the visa in the embassy," she said.

"I found that Australia can give you an electronic visa through an online application, and it also accepts refugees. I read what is required to be considered as a refugee in Australia and I found it applied to me.

"I didn’t know anything else about Australia, nor did I know that there are other Saudi refugees here."

She was sent an electronic visa for a three-month stay in Australia after fulfilling certain criteria in her application, including booking a return ticket and proving she had money to finance her trip.

She also managed to obtain the approval of her male "guardian" without him knowing.

The night of "escape"

Ms AlEssa said the night she left her home was "very intense".

"I would rather call it surviving not escaping," she said.

"Everything had to be very calculated and timely because you get one shot only at this.

"I left at midnight, so they won’t notice I am gone until I am actually gone. The male guardian can cancel your travel permission even if you are at the airport, and they can call the police to arrest you, escaping is a crime that is punishable by three to six months in jail."

She eventually reached Perth and from there she travelled to Darwin, where she began seeking a lawyer to assist in her bid for asylum.

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She eventually moved to Melbourne and got in touch with a refugee organisation.

"They told me 'we only help refugees who come by boats or through the UN'. I think they didn’t take my case seriously and didn’t see it as a priority, I also think they never had a Saudi case before," she said.

She then relocated to Sydney and applied for a protection visa - which was eventually granted in 2016.

Despite the security of protection, she said securing employment to survive in her new country posed a challenge.

"I started looking for jobs but I faced a lot of discrimination, a lot of companies wouldn’t hire refugees," she said.

"Also they asked for local experience, I worked as a volunteer for two months and this helped me to get a job. I got a job six months into the country and I started to settle."

Other Saudi refugees

Ms AlEssa joined Twitter and started communicating with Saudi refugees in Australia Germany, Sweden, Norway, France and Canada.

"I thought I was the only one who took this decision and went through this journey, but it turns out there are a lot like me," she said.

"We started communicating through telegram groups and we also revealed on Twitter that we are Saudi women and we are refugees."

This led to the formation of a communication link for Saudi refugees in Australia.

Ms AlEssa said she continued to wait for an interview with the Department of Immigration which would determine whether she's granted permanent residency in Australia.

Protection in Australia has given her the opportunity to start a new life.

"Australia is way better than many European countries and the United States, life here is easier and settlement also. Even the nature of the society is different, I know girls who have been in other countries for a year or two and didn’t settle yet," she said.

"The minimum wage here is great compared to other countries and people are friendlier.

"There is a change in my lifestyle, but I am proud of everything I do, I feel the joy of earning my own money for work I do.

"It is enough for me, that I wake up every day and I can just open the door and leave the house. I get to decide to go out and where to go, my decision not someone else’s. I still have these moments of joy, although I have been here for nearly three years when I leave the house get in my car and go where I want."

She said her only regret was that she "didn’t take this step earlier".

* Not her real name.