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Saudi Arabia

UN Takes Charge of Saudi Girl in Thailand seeking Asylum, Fearing Family Violence

Middle East Monitor 01/08/2019

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Thai police said that they had allowed the Saudi girl, Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun, to leave Bangkok airport under the care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Al-Qunun tweeted a photo of UN staff with Thai security after she left her room as well as a copy of her passport that she had regained after being held.

She said: “My parents have just arrived, I’m scared, and I want to go to another country, but I’m safe now under the protection of Thai authorities and the United Nations. Finally, I regained my passport.”

Hey I'm Rahaf. My father just arrived as I heard witch worried and scared me a lot and I want to go to another country that I seek asylum in
But at least I feel save now under UNHCR protection with the agreement of Thailand authorities. And I finally got my passport back??❤️ pic.twitter.com/pQER7HDVi7

— Rahaf Mohammed رهف محمد القنون (@rahaf84427714) January 7, 2019

Al-Qunun arrived in Bangkok two days ago. She came from Kuwait on her way to Australia with the intention of applying for asylum and escaping what she described as violence by her family.

Al-Qunun sent through her account, which was followed by tens of thousands of human rights activists around the world, a call to the UN to grant her refugee status in any country for fear of being deported to Saudi Arabia.

[A supporter put out the word,] “Rahaf just send me this, she just wants you to make sure she is on the hotel, and she still needs help and protection.”

Thailand’s immigration official said on Monday that the country had dropped plans to deport a Saudi woman stranded at Bangkok airport after fleeing her family during a visit to Kuwait because of concerns about her safety.

Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun, 18, was stranded at Bangkok airport on Saturday after Thai immigration officials banned her from entering the country.

Thailand: Allow Fleeing Saudi Woman to Seek Refuge https://t.co/3vw2U7kq0q

— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) January 6, 2019

Rahaf was holed up inside a hotel room at the airport, Monday, to avoid being deported on a Kuwait Airways plane scheduled for Monday morning . . .

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

——

CBC: “Saudi woman fleeing family won’t be deported”

Filed Under: Saudi Arabia

About the Author

Middle East Monitor is a not-for-profit press monitoring organization, founded on 1 July 2009, and based in London. Journalists who have written for it include Amelia Smith, Diana Alghoul, Ben White, Jehan Alfarra and Jessica Purkiss. The editorial line straddles the British left and the British Muslim religious Right.

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