A British woman has been held in a cage in Saudi Arabia by her father, who controls nearly every aspect of her life, a court was told this week. 
 
 Swansea-born Amina Al-Jeffery, a 21-year-old dual British-Saudi citizen, was taken from her home in Wales by her father Mohammed Al-Jeffery, 62, four years ago, the court heard. Her father reportedly disapproved of her behaviour when she lived in the UK. 
 
 The High Court was told she is now being held against her will at her father’s home in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, The Times reported. 
 
 Ms Jeffery is kept caged when her father leaves home, suffers physical abuse and is not properly fed, the court was told. She is also not free to marry whoever she wants. 
 
 “Steps need to be taken to ensure Ms Jeffery is returned to the UK where her safety can be guaranteed,” the Foreign Office's Forced Marriage Unit said. 
 
 It added that Ms Jeffery’s British citizenship was not recognised by the Saudi authorities. Mr Jeffery is said to have ignored orders to take his daughter to the British consulate in Jeddah earlier this week. 
 
 Henry Setright, Ms Jeffery’s lawyer, said the father believed Ms Jeffery was “someone he has a duty to control, including her freedom of movement”. 
 
 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 show all 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1/10 In October 2014, three lawyers, Dr Abdulrahman al-Subaihi, Bander al-Nogaithan and Abdulrahman al-Rumaih , were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for using Twitter to criticize the Ministry of Justice. AFP/Getty Images 
 
 2/10 In March 2015, Yemen’s Sunni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was forced into exile after a Shia-led insurgency. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition has responded with air strikes in order to reinstate Mr Hadi. It has since been accused of committing war crimes in the country. Getty Images 
 
 3/10 Women who supported the Women2Drive campaign, launched in 2011 to challenge the ban on women driving vehicles, faced harassment and intimidation by the authorities. The government warned that women drivers would face arrest. Getty Images 
 
 4/10 Members of the Kingdom’s Shia minority, most of whom live in the oil-rich Eastern Province, continue to face discrimination that limits their access to government services and employment. Activists have received death sentences or long prison terms for their alleged participation in protests in 2011 and 2012. Getty Images 
 
 5/10 All public gatherings are prohibited under an order issued by the Interior Ministry in 2011. Those defy the ban face arrest, prosecution and imprisonment on charges such as “inciting people against the authorities”. Getty Images 
 
 6/10 In March 2014, the Interior Ministry stated that authorities had deported over 370,000 foreign migrants and that 18,000 others were in detention. Thousands of workers were returned to Somalia and other states where they were at risk of human rights abuses, with large numbers also returned to Yemen, in order to open more jobs to Saudi Arabians. Many migrants reported that prior to their deportation they had been packed into overcrowded makeshift detention facilities where they received little food and water and were abused by guards. Getty Images 
 
 7/10 The Saudi Arabian authorities continue to deny access to independent human rights organisations like Amnesty International, and they have been known to take punitive action, including through the courts, against activists and family members of victims who contact Amnesty. Getty Images 
 
 8/10 Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1000 lashes and 10 years in prison for using his liberal blog to criticise Saudi Arabia’s clerics. He has already received 50 lashes, which have reportedly left him in poor health. Carsten Koall/Getty Images 
 
 9/10 Dawood al-Marhoon was arrested aged 17 for participating in an anti-government protest. After refusing to spy on his fellow protestors, he was tortured and forced to sign a blank document that would later contain his ‘confession’. At Dawood’s trial, the prosecution requested death by crucifixion while refusing him a lawyer. Getty Images 
 
 10/10 Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 aged either 16 or 17 for participating in protests during the Arab spring. His sentence includes beheading and crucifixion. The international community has spoken out against the punishment and has called on Saudi Arabia to stop. He is the nephew of a prominent government dissident. Getty 
 
 Mr Jeffery disapproved of Ms Jeffery’s “relationships and conduct,” Mr Setright said. 
 
 But Anne-Marie Hutchinson, from the Academy of Family Lawyers, acting for Ms Jeffery, said: “She is a normal Welsh girl and still has her Welsh accent. 
 
 “She wants to return home so she can have control of her own life and make her own choices.” 
 
 The case continues. ||||| A 21-year-old Welsh woman who says she has been imprisoned by her father in Saudi Arabia because she "kissed a guy" has asked a British High Court judge for help. 
 
 Amina Al-Jeffery, who grew up in Swansea and has dual British and Saudi Arabian nationality, claims she is banned from using the internet, phone and bathroom. 
 
 She has also said her father hit her and says she has "metal bars" on her bedroom door. 
 
 She described herself as a "locked-up girl with a shaved head", the judge was told. ||||| Image copyright Press Association 
 
 A father accused of imprisoning his daughter in Saudi Arabia said he was "trying to help" her, a court was told. 
 
 Mohammed Al-Jeffery says he took Amina Al-Jeffery, 21, from Swansea to Jeddah in 2012 to "save her life". 
 
 The dual British and Saudi Arabian national wants to return to the UK and claims she is being held against her will and denied food and water. 
 
 Her lawyers are asking the High Court in London to come to her aid. Her father disputes the allegations. 
 
 The case has concluded with judgement reserved until Wednesday. 
 
 Her father has claimed she had become "reckless", taking drugs in her teenage years and accused the British government of "doing nothing". 
 
 Representing Mr Al-Jeffery, Marcus Scott-Manderson QC told the judge, Mr Justice Holman: "The father says today he does not want to discuss Amina's return. 
 
 "He does not want to speak to m'lord. He says that is because [of] what he has seen in the media. 
 
 "He wants to help Amina... he says he brought her to Saudi Arabia to help her." 
 
 Image copyright John Allan/Geograph Image caption The case is being heard at the Family Division of the High Court in London 
 
 During the hearing on Wednesday, barristers representing her said it had been difficult to receive instructions from her - but she had spoken to a member of staff at the British Consulate in Jeddah. 
 
 She told them there had been a practice of "locking her in her room", and her younger sister had been told she was an "evil girl". 
 
 She described "metal bars" on her bedroom and being a "locked-up girl with a shaved head", her lawyers said. 
 
 Mr Scott-Manderson said her father "says it's not true that he shaved Amina, he says Amina did that because she wanted to be shaved". 
 
 The judge is considering whether to make an order that she be brought back to the UK, or allowed to meet with the British Consulate without her father being present. 
 
 The judge said: "There are limits on the powers of enforcement - there are no reciprocal agreements between the UK and Saudi Arabia." 
 
 Mr Scott-Manderson added: "The father says Amina was at risk in Britain and the British government did nothing to help her. 
 
 "That's not a criticism of the British people, but he says Amina is reckless and cannot help herself and he has to help her. 
 
 "He says that the applicant's solicitor has been in contact throughout, he says, with the applicant." 
 
 Mr Justice Holman asked if Mr Scott-Manderson was able to elaborate on what she was at risk of in Britain. 
 
 Mr Scott-Manderson relayed his client's concerns, claiming she had not been focusing on school, had been taking drugs, "going to clubs and spending time with older men". 
 
 He said the Saudi government was paying Mr Al-Jeffery's legal bills, via the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
– A 21-year-old Welsh woman says that, because she "kissed a guy," her father shaved her head and locked her up, putting metal bars on her bedroom door and preventing her from using the phone and internet—or even the bathroom, instead forcing her to urinate in a cup. Amina Al-Jeffery grew up in Wales and has dual British and Saudi Arabian citizenship, and says her father Mohammed Al-Jeffery, a 60-something academic, took her to Saudi Arabia four years ago, where he has kept her imprisoned and physically abused her, the Independent reports. Lawyers representing her are now in London asking a court to help her. It's not clear how they learned of her, though the BBC reports that she alerted the British Consulate in Jeddah to her situation. Her lawyers say it has been difficult to communicate with her. "Her treatment has extended to depriving her of food and water, depriving her of toilet facilities, physical assault, and control of her ability to marry who she wishes and creating a situation in which she feels compelled to marry as a means of escape," one of her lawyers said, per the Telegraph. Mohammed Al-Jeffery disputes his daughter's claims; he says he took her to Saudi Arabia to "save her life," and that he "fear[s] she will go back to her old destructive lifestyle" if she is returned to the UK. That lifestyle involved taking drugs, not focusing on her education, and "going to clubs and spending time with older men," his lawyer says. Mohammed Al-Jeffery also says Amina shaved her own head. The judge is considering whether he has the power to make an order relating to someone living abroad, and suggested Amina request sanctuary at the British Consulate. (Police say an autistic woman was kept outdoors in a crate.)