Qatari sisters stranded in Egypt

The sisters were flown to Cairo to get abortions

By Heba Saleh BBC correspondent in Cairo

The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, says it is concerned for the safety of two Qatari sisters whose family brought them to Egypt to force them to have abortions.

The two sisters have already fought off successfully one attempt to get them on a flight back to Qatar

UNHCR representatives have been trying unsuccessfully to gain access to the two sisters, who are at Cairo airport, refusing to go back to Qatar.

They married two Indian men last summer without their family's approval.

The two pregnant sisters have been stuck at Cairo airport since Sunday.

The Egyptian authorities will not allow them into the country, and have decided to deport them back to Qatar.

'Prisoners'

The sisters went to India last summer where they married Indian men without consulting their families.

One of the women had apparently found her husband through the internet.

The husbands say the sisters were lured back to Qatar last month with promises that they would be forgiven.

Once in Qatar, however, they became prisoners of their families and were told they would be taken to Egypt to have their pregnancies terminated.

The UNHCR wants the women released into its custody so that they could travel back to India.

The two sisters have already fought off successfully one attempt to get them on a flight back to Qatar.

The UNHCR says it is still trying to gain access to them.