Only my opinion, but it seems to me that the chronology as known so far is something like:
- 2017: We can infer that both sisters applied for and were granted visas to enter Australia to study. This means they had exit visas from Saudi Arabia, permission to travel from a male guardian and sufficient funds and acceptance into a course of study from a registered educational provider to convince the Australian authorities to grant them a visa. The type of visa they were given and the period of its validity has not been disclosed.
Although they were reported to have been studying at TAFE, Fairfield campus, over the past few years - a little like a US community college - I have not seen any reporting providing details the educational course they intended to pursue when they applied for a visa in 2017. It may be the TAFE course, but needs to be confirmed.
- 2017: The sisters travel from Saudi Arabia to Australia, via Hong Kong. After arrival, the sisters make contact with a refugee centre. The date when they made contact is not known publicly. Media state the origin of their journey was Saudi Arabia (as given here), but many women who flee Saudi Arabia do so from a third country often during a family holiday. The sisters itinerary remains to be confirmed.
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2017 - ??: the sisters live at a property in Fairfield before they moved to their unit in Canterbury where they died. No public information on when or why the sisters moved from their initial place of residence (Fairfield) to the unit when their bodied were discovered (Canterbury). Where they stayed before taking up residence in the Fairfield property has not been revealed.
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2017 - ??: The landlord of the sisters' Fairfield property said the sisters had been attending TAFE and that their mother had visited previously and that she had not liked Australia, leaving after only a brief stay. The landlord had never heard the sisters discuss their father.
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2018?? - ??: The older sister, Asra, had a boyfriend when the sisters were living in Fairfield, with the landlord saying he was “Iraqi” and had a beard. How she met this man is not known publicly.
- 2018, October, 11: Amaal applied for and was granted an
Australian Business Number (ABN). The nature of her business is not provided in the public record. On this same say Asra Alsehli applied for an
ABN but the nature of her business is not provided in the public record.
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2018?? - ??: At some point both sisters obtained employment, working in traffic control for a construction company. It is not clear they how long they worked at this company or on what basis: permanent, part time, casual and so on.
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2019: January: Asra applied for an apprehended violence order against a man (identity not given), although that application was withdrawn.
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2022, March (mid): The sisters' building’s manager - at their Canterbury home, where their bodies were discovered - noting food in shared spaces asked police to do a welfare check. Police attended and spoke to the women who “appeared fine”. Detail of the extent and nature of the police interaction or if there was bodycam footage (as they may well be), has not been disclosed publicly. The
Daily Mail says the police did two welfare checks in 2022, prior to the discovery of the sisters' bodies and another in an earlier year, but no date was given. In one of the checks, according to the Daily Mail, the pair were described as 'timid' and refused to let anyone enter the apartment. They eventually allowed officers to enter, but stayed huddled together in the far corner of the unit.
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2022, April, 13 [approx]: Sheriff's officers went to the Canterbury apartment to serve the women with an eviction notice. The reason for eviction has not been provided. It may be non-payment of rent.
- 2022, early May: the sisters die in bed. No one raises an alarm; no one misses them. This suggests a disconnection from the Sydney community, including TAFE and their workplace as well as estrangement from their family in Saudi Arabia.
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2022, May, 13: The owner of their Canterbury unit filed a civil case against Asra. The nature of the case has not been given, but it may be non-payment of rent.
- 2022, June 7: Rent had not been paid and mail was building up. Building supervisors called police to conduct a welfare check. The Amaal and Asra Alsehli's bodies were discovered, some reports say, in bed, while other reports say in bedrooms. It is not clear if they are in separate beds or separate bedrooms - though
news.com says separate bedrooms. Nor has information been released stating how they were dressed. Police did say there was no/no sign of a forced entry or a struggle. Additionally, police said there were no/no signs of violence on the bodies. Police establish Strike Force Woolbird to investigate the circumstances surrounding the women’s deaths.
A a general comment, the police say publicly they have no idea the cause of the Alsehli sisters' deaths and are awaiting the pathology report. However, and this is just conjecture, if their visa was about to expire and they believed their application for asylum had been rejected, and the feared returning to Saudi Arabia, then they may have taken their own lives. This has happened before, in the US in 2018, reported 2019: "
Two Saudi Sisters Found Dead in Hudson River Killed Themselves: Medical Examiner". However, this needs to be confirmed. No suicide note has been mentioned.
A death from carbon monoxide can be detected at post mortem however, in this situation, who knows due to the time gone by. Also it can be detected from examining and checking the equipment for leaks - or rather, improper fumes venting, but a landlord would want to cover that up really quickly if it happened.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
newstimesuk.com
It is a very busy road. And the apartment is on the first floor.
