• UK Boris Johnson to 'rescue' Princess Latifa

  • Middle East UN calls for "proof of life" for Princess Latifa

  • Comeback Princess Latifa of Dubai reappears in secretly sent videos: "All the windows have bars and I can't even get out for air"

Mounting international pressure has forced the

Dubai

royal family

to break its silence about

Princess Latifa

, missing after her failed escape three years ago.

"His family has confirmed that His Highness is receiving care at home, with the support of his family and medical professionals," the court of the Emir of Dubai

Mohamed Bin Rashid al Maktoum

(71)

reported this Friday

in a brief statement that published days after in some videos Latifa herself denounced being "a hostage" of her father and being held in a house protected by dozens of policemen.



"In response to media

reports

on

Sheija Latifa

, we want to thank all those who have shown their concern for their well-being despite the fact that the coverage does not reflect their current situation ", outlines a note released by the

United Arab Emirates

embassy

in

London

. The text does not, however, include any photograph or proof of life, as UN agencies and the British Government have demanded in recent days.

"He continues to improve and we hope that he will return to public life in due course," adds the statement, released hours after the office of the

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

acknowledged that they had requested a proof of life from the Emirati authorities. .

"We express our concern about the situation in light of the disturbing audiovisual evidence that has transpired this week. We have requested information and clarifications on the current situation of

Sheija Latifa,

" acknowledged the spokeswoman for the organization,

Liz Throssell

.



The High Commissioner, who already announced that he would investigate the events last Wednesday, has assured that he contacted the Emirates on Thursday through the permanent mission of the federation in Geneva.

"Given the serious concern about

Sheija Latifa

, we have demanded that the government response be a priority issue. We have requested proof of life and additional information," added Throssell.



After two years of silence about his whereabouts, the videos that the daughter of the almighty emir - also Prime Minister and Vice President of the Emirates - secretly recorded hidden in a bathroom and released this week by the campaign that is litigating for his release have caused a real tsunami.



Requests to shed light on its current state have come from the UN, the British government and human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch (HRW).

"It gives us hope to see that something moves," they have acknowledged from HRW.

"We hope that all this will be followed by actions and that the UN clearly asks for his release, not just a proof of life," they added.



In the videos, Latifa denounces living confined in a house full of bars and protected by police officers.

"I am a hostage and this house has become my prison," the young woman explains bitterly.

His trail disappeared on March 4, 2018 when the "Nostromo" boat in which he was traveling was in Indian waters.

The yacht, raided by Emirati special forces and the Indian coastguard, was located days later at an Emirati military base.

Latifa had concocted for seven long years an escape that she had already tried in 2002, when she was just 16 years old.



According to her cousin Marcus Essabri, who resides in the United Kingdom, the videos released this week in which the princess is concerned for her safety and survival were secretly recorded for months after receiving a phone a year after her capture.

The communication stopped abruptly six months ago and their relatives have made them public now, disturbed by the silence that has buried the princess.



"We are extremely concerned for her safety. Her friends say that all contacts with her have been cut off in recent months," said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

"Latifa could be detained in a golden cage but that does not change the fact that her deprivation of liberty is arbitrary," he adds.



In the videos, Latifa denounces the conditions in which she has lived since her return to Dubai.

"I have been here in solitary confinement for more than a year. Without access to medical assistance, without trial or charges or anything," he laments.

According to the BBC, Latifa has been living in a mansion near the sea shielded by about thirty policemen.

Princess Haya of Jordan, ex-wife of the Emir of Dubai who fled with her two children in 2019, says she visited Latifa in December 2018. "She opened the door, looked at me, hugged me and burst into tears. a long time. He seemed very vulnerable, "said the daughter of the late King Hussein.

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