Australia ponders taking in Saudi teen

ADELAIDE, Australia — A Saudi teenager fleeing her family will be considered for resettlement in Australia, the country’s home affairs department announced Wednesday.

Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, 18, flew to Bangkok Saturday to escape what she said was an abusive family. When Thai authorities attempted to deport her back to Kuwait, where her family was, she barricaded herself in an airport hotel room and pleaded on Twitter to see the United Nations refugee agency.

The turnaround in her case, from imminent deportation to possible resettlement in a third country, has largely been credited to a social media campaign that the young woman and some of her friends launched largely on Twitter.

Her plight gained widespread attention as she documented every step of her detention and interactions with Thai authorities, prompting them to eventually allow UNHCR access to her. She left the airport after two days in the custody of the refugee agency, which said it would consider her request for refugee status.

Alqunun, who comes from Hail in northwestern Saudi Arabia, said she feared for her life if she were to be returned to her family. Her friends said she had suffered abuse at their hands.

The Australian decision does not grant Alqunun automatic refugee status in Australia, but it makes a positive asylum decision far more likely.