Saudi Arabia has described it as a botched attempt to return the critic to Saudi Arabia, and said the killers would be brought to justice. Saudi refugees on the riseThe number of Saudi refugees globally has increased in recent years. In 1993, the first year with recorded cases of Saudi asylum-seekers, there were seven Saudi refugees, according to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). The number of Saudi refugees rose again after the 2011 Arab Spring, which spurred unrest in the kingdom's eastern province. "(Saudi Arabia) does not like the optics of its citizens fleeing, because it really cuts into the PR campaign to portray Saudi Arabia as modernizing and improving," said HRW's Coogle.

Source: CNN February 03, 2019 01:41 UTC