Officials at the Population and Immigration Authority have recently had to deal with a somewhat unusual asylum request: A woman from an African nation said he had to flee her home because the local authorities were about to crown her as their queen against her will.

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According to the petitioner, a 43-year-old Christian woman who is married without children, her mother used to be the queen of the country, but after she died, her sister took over. Unfortunately, the sister has recently passed away, passing the royal title to her.

The woman decided that the royal way of life did not suit her, and fled to another city, eventually boarding a flight to Israel.

The application will most likely be denied as the Population and Immigration Authority has since learned that there is a procedure in place for rejecting the royal title in the African country, and it does not carry any penalties.

After looking into the matter thoroughly, the authority found out that providing an animal, like a sheep or a goat, was enough to refuse the title. It also said in a statement that "since there is no punishment for the refusal, there is no need for state protection" either.

Since then, two more asylum seekers have filed similar requests with the immigration authority, also claiming they had refused royal titles in Africa.

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A Belarusian Olympic sprinter plans to seek asylum in Poland, an activist group said Monday, after the athlete alleged that her team's officials tried to force her to fly home, where she feared she wouldn't be safe from an autocratic government that recently was accused of diverting a plane in order to arrest a dissident journalist.

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Athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya received a humanitarian visa from the Polish embassy in Tokyo, according to a Polish Foreign Ministry official. The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation, an activist group that is helping the runner, told The Associated Press that the group bought her a plane ticket to Warsaw for the coming days.

The current standoff apparently began after Tsimanouskaya criticized how officials were managing her team  –setting off a massive backlash in state-run media back home, where authorities relentlessly crack down on government critics. Tsimanouskaya said on her Instagram account that she was put in the 4x400 relay even though she has never raced in the event.

Tsimanouskaya was then apparently hustled to the airport but refused to board a flight for Istanbul and instead approached police for help. In a filmed message distributed on social media, she also asked the International Olympic Committee for assistance.

"I was put under pressure, and they are trying to forcibly take me out of the country without my consent," the 24-year-old runner said in the message.

The rapid-fire series of events brought international political intrigue to an Olympics that have been more focused on operational dramas, like maintaining safety during a pandemic and navigating widespread Japanese opposition to holding the event at all.

Belarus' authoritarian government has relentlessly targeted anyone even mildly expressing dissent since a presidential election a year ago triggered a wave of unprecedented mass protests. And it has also gone to extremes to stop its critics, including the recent plane diversion that European officials called an act of air piracy.

In this context, Tsimanouskaya feared for her safety once she saw the campaign against her in state media, according to the sports foundation.

"The campaign was quite serious and that was a clear signal that her life would be in danger in Belarus," Alexander Opeikin, a spokesman for the foundation, told the AP in an interview.

Tsimanouskaya's next steps were not clear. Vadim Krivosheyev, also of the sports foundation, said she planned to seek asylum. Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek, a Polish deputy foreign minister, said the runner asked for the humanitarian visa for now and can still seek refugee status once in Poland.

Athletes seeking asylum at global sporting events is nothing new. It was especially frequent during the Cold War but has also happened occasionally in the decades since. As many as 117 athletes defected at the Munich Olympics in 1972, for instance, according to reports at the time. At least four Romanians and a Soviet associated with the Olympics defected at the Montreal Games in 1976. And Cuban athletes have frequently done so.

Underscoring the seriousness of the allegations, several groups and countries say they are helping the runner. Poland and the Czech Republic offered assistance, and Japan's Foreign Ministry said it was working with the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo Olympics organizers.

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The IOC, which has been in dispute with the Belarus National Olympic Committee ahead of the Tokyo Games, said it had intervened.

"The IOC … is looking into the situation and has asked the NOC for clarification," it said in a statement.

Many critics of Belarus' government have fled to Poland. Marcin Przydacz, another deputy foreign minister, confirmed on Twitter that Tsimanouskaya had received a humanitarian visa from Poland, adding that the country would also help her to continue her sports career.

"Poland always stands for Solidarity," he said.

Several hours after she entered the Polish embassy, Tsimanouskaya was still believed to be inside. Outside, two exiled Belarusian women who live in Tokyo offered the runner support. They waved a flag that was a mix of the opposition's banner and the Japanese flag.

Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek also tweeted that the Czech Republic has offered her asylum.

"If she decides to accept it, we'll do our maximum to help her," he wrote.

The Belarus National Olympic Committee has been led for more than 25 years by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and his son, Viktor.

Both Lukashenkos are banned from the Tokyo Olympics by the IOC, which investigated complaints from athletes that they faced reprisals and intimidation during the crackdown following the wave of anti-government protests over the last year.

"Lukashenko perceives all criticism as part of a plot by Western countries," said Valery Karbalevich, an independent Belarusian political analyst. "Tsimanouskaya's protest is viewed as part of a broader movement of hundreds of Belarusian athletes who stood against the beatings of peaceful demonstrators and for a year have been taking part in street rallies."

A spokeswoman for the Belarus Olympic team did not respond to a request for comment.

The standoff over Tsimanouskaya comes just months after the dramatic diversion of a passenger plane flying between two EU countries. Belarusian authorities ordered the plane to land in Minsk – and pulled journalist and activist Raman Pratasevich and his Russian girlfriend off the flight.

The elder Lukashenko maintained that there was a bomb threat against the plane and that's why a fighter jet was scrambled to force it to land, but the move was roundly criticized by Western leaders.

Pratasevich, who ran a channel on a messaging app used to organize demonstrations against Lukashenko's rule, left his homeland in 2019. He has been charged with fomenting mass unrest and is under house arrest while he awaits trial.

Amid Monday's drama, Tsimanouskaya missed the Olympic 200-meter heats that she was due to participate in. She already competed for Belarus on the first day of track events Friday at the National Stadium in Tokyo. She placed fourth in her first-round heat in the 100 meters, timing 11.47 seconds, and did not advance.

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Israel Hayom has learned that the Israel Judo Association invited Mollaei to take part in the Tel Aviv Grand Prix 2019 in January.

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After Mollaei was eliminated from the World Judo Championships last week, Muki ended up winning the gold medal and made Israeli sports history.

Mollaei then announced that he would seek asylum in Germany and even praised Muki online and congratulated him on his win, to the chagrin of the Iranian regime.

International Judo Federation president Marius Vizer wants the Iranian asylum-seeker to attend the Israeli-hosted competition in January and has said he would punish Iranian authorities for pressuring Mollaei to lose a match last week so that he would get eliminated.

If Mollaei accepts the invitation, he would still have to jump through many hoops before he would be able to compete in Tel Aviv, but authorities in Israel said they were optimistic.

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Saeid Mollaei's request for asylum was confirmed by the International Judo Federation, which expressed support for the Iranian athlete.

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Earlier this week, Israel's Judo Association accused Iran of forcefully coercing Mollaei, ranked No. 1 in the world, into losing his semi-final match at the World Judo Championship in Tokyo to avoid facing Israel's Sagi Muki in the final.

IJA chairman Moshe Ponte later told Army Radio that Mollaei "intended to continue the contest, even if he had to face Sagi Muki at the final. We heard he'd asked the head of the Iranian judo association to ensure that his family was kept safe."

Ponte added: "From what we understand, within a short time Iranian intelligence officials came both to his home in Iran and to the judo arena and warned him."

Muki would go on to win the tournament, becoming the first Israeli male athlete to win a World Championship gold.

Iranian judo officials said in May that they would end the decades-long practice of boycotting matches against Israeli athletes and "fully respect the Olympic Charter and its nondiscrimination principle."

The International Judo Federation said in a statement at the time that the Iranian commitment came after several rounds of talks regarding a "disturbing phenomenon" in which Iranian athletes suddenly claim "injuries" or intentionally fail their weigh-ins to avoid meeting athletes from certain countries.

This article was originally published by i24NEWS.

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Maha and Wafa al-Subaie, who are seeking asylum in Georgia after fleeing their family, said Absher – a government e-services app – was bad for women as it supported Saudi Arabia's strict male guardian system.

"It gives men control over women," said Wafa, 25. "They have to remove it," she added, referring to Google and Apple.

Absher, which is available in the Saudi version of Google and Apple online stores, allows men to update or withdraw permissions for female relatives to travel abroad and to get SMS updates if their passports are used, according to researchers.

Neither company was immediately available to comment. Apple's chief executive Tim Cook said in February that he had not heard of Absher but pledged to "take a look at it."

A free tool created by the interior ministry, Absher allows Saudis to access a wide range of government services, such as renewing passports, making appointments and viewing traffic violations.

Saudi women must have permission from a male relative to work, marry and travel under the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom's guardianship system, which has faced scrutiny following recent cases of Saudi women seeking refuge overseas.

The al-Subaie sisters, who stole their father's phone to get themselves passports and authorisation to fly to Istanbul, said they knew of dozens of other young women who were looking to escape abusive families.

Tech giants could help bring about change in Saudi Arabia if they pulled Absher or insisted that it allows women to organise travel independently – which would significantly hamper the guardianship system – they said.

"If [they] remove this application, maybe the government will do something," Wafa told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview.

The sisters' plea added to growing calls from rights groups, diplomats and U.S. and European politicians for the app to be removed from online stores.

United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Wednesday that she had asked tech companies in Silicon Valley "tough questions" this month about the "threats" posed by apps like Absher which allow Saudi men to restrict women's movement.

"Technology can, and should, be all about progress. But the hugely invasive powers that are being unleashed may do incalculable damage if there are not sufficient checks in place to respect human rights," she said in a statement.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has introduced reforms, such as lifting the driving ban for women, and indicated last year that he favoured ending the guardianship system. But he has stopped short of backing its annulment.Western criticism of the kingdom has sharpened with the trial of 11 women activists who said last month that they had been tortured while in detention on charges related to human rights work and contacts with foreign journalists and diplomats.

The public prosecutor has denied the torture allegations and said the women had been arrested on suspicion of harming Saudi interests and offering support to hostile elements abroad.

A Saudi teen won global attention and asylum in Canada when she holed up in a Thai airport hotel in January to escape her family. Two other Saudi sisters who hid in Hong Kong for six months were granted visas in March to travel to a third country.

"Increasing cases of women fleeing the country are indicative of the situation of women in Saudi Arabia," said Lynn Maalouf, Middle East research director for rights group Amnesty International.

"Despite some limited reforms, [they] are inadequately protected against domestic violence and abuse and, more generally, are discriminated against."

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