Two sisters who fled from Saudi Arabia urged Apple to delete the “inhuman” app which supports male guardianship system, Reuters reported.

Maha and Wafa al-Subaie, who are seeking asylum in Georgia, said Absher – a government e-services app –supported Saudi Arabia’s strict male guardian system.

“It gives men control over women,” said Wafa, 25, adding: “They have to remove it,” she added, referring to Google and Apple.

Absher, which is available in the Saudi version of Google and Apple online stores, allows men to update or withdraw permissions for female relatives to travel abroad and to get SMS updates if their passports are used, according to researchers.

Absher, a free tool created by the Interior Ministry, allows Saudis to access a wide range of public services, such as updating passports, making appointments and viewing traffic violations.

According to the sisters, who stole their father’s phone to get passports and authorisations to fly to Istanbul, they knew of dozens of other young women who were looking to escape abusive families.