Meriam Al Khalifa

Meriam bint Abdullah Al-Khalifa is a member of the Bahraini Royal House of Al-Khalifa. She is best known for fleeing her family and native Bahrain to the United States to elope with US Marine Lance Corporal Jason Johnson, who was, at the time, stationed in Bahrain as part of a counter-terrorism unit providing security for expatriate Americans. After she was smuggled into the United States with help from Lance Corporal Johnson and being threatened with deportation by United States Customs, she was permitted to stay and apply for asylum, claiming that she feared honor violence by her family in retaliation for fleeing her country and entertaining a romantic relationship with a non-Muslim. Her story was featured heavily in the American press, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, and was turned into a television movie.