On their last legal day in Hong Kong Thursday, two Saudi sisters who have ended up stranded in the city for almost six months pleaded with authorities to allow them to stay. The pair, who use the aliases Reem and Rawan, fled their families over alleged abuse last September. They were were en route to claiming asylum in Australia, but were intercepted at the Hong Kong airport by officials from the Saudi consulate, documents from the airlines and seen by TIME show. Fearing they would be kidnapped and deported, the sisters entered Hong Kong as visitors. Reem and Rawan began speaking out about their ordeal this week as the deadline for them to leave Hong Kong loomed.