Two runaway Saudi sisters said on Friday they have applied for asylum in Georgia but still feared they could be reached by their family and forced back to the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom.

Immigration authorities in the former Soviet republic offered the siblings assistance and security on Thursday, days after the two made international headlines by pleading online for protection.

But the sisters, Maha al-Subaie, 28, and Wafa al-Subaie, 25, said they would rather move to another country where Saudi Arabians cannot visit without a visa.