Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun: has arrived in Canada after being granted asylum

A Saudi teenager who fled her family alleging abuse and got stranded at a Bangkok airport has arrived in Canada after being granted asylum.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, was trying to reach Australia via Bangkok but was told to return to Kuwait where her family is waiting.  She refused to fly back and barricaded herself into her airport hotel room, this led to international attention. She has rejected Islam and is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Chrystia Freeland, introduced the 18-year-old as “a brave new Canadian” but said that Ms al-Qunun was tired from her long journey and ordeal; she was not ready to make any public statements.

Chrystia Freeland said: “She is a very brave young woman who has been through a lot… and she is now going to go to her new home,”

The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters that his country had granted a request from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to grant asylum for her.

He said: “Canada has been unequivocal that we will always stand up for human rights and women’s rights around the world.”

Ms al-Qunun tweeted a photo to show her on board a jet just before take-off with the caption “I did it!”

Ms al-Qunun fled her country as it has no right for a woman, she told her story and explained her worries that her family would kill her if she was caught escaping or just left with them knowing. She also alleged that she had suffered physical and psychological abuse from her family and was locked in her room for six months because she had cut her hair. Under Saudi Arabia’s “male guardianship system”, a Saudi woman is required to have male approval to apply for a passport, travel, study aboard, get married, leave prison or anything really.

Ms al-Qunun was on a trip to Kuwait with her family when she fled on a flight to Bangkok, she intended to take a flight to Australia and had a visa ready. Her passport was seized by a Saudi diplomat when he met her coming off the flight in Bangkok, this left her stranded. Her passport was later returned. Her brother and father did arrive to get her, but she refused to see them.

Ms al-Qunun got public attention on social media by live-twitting her every move and obstacle. She had attracted 50,000 followers in a day and a half.  In a tweet she said: “based on the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol, I’m rahaf mohmed, formally seeking a refugee status to any country that would protect me from getting harmed or killed due to leaving my religion and torture from my family.”

Thailand’s chief of immigration police, Surachate Hakparn, said the country would “take care of her as best we can”.

“She is now under the sovereignty of Thailand; no-one and no embassy can force her to go anywhere.

“Thailand is a land of smiles. We will not send anyone to die.”

She arrived in Canada where she was given asylum on January 12^th.