caption father house religion birth_place birth_date spouse article_title name
meriam , on november 22 , 2013 shaikh abdullah bin ibrahim al-khalifa house of al-khalifa sunni islam manama , bahrain 1980 yes jason -rrb- johnson -lrb- m. 1999 ; div . 2004 meriam al khalifa
 '' shaikha '' meriam bint abdullah al khalifa
meriam al khalifa

meriam bint abdullah al-khalifa -lrb- born 1980 -rrb- 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 an american .
her story was featured heavily in the american press , including the oprah winfrey show , and was turned into a television movie .
