Saudi woman wins temporary reprieve
A young Saudi woman detained at Bangkok airport has been given a temporary reprieve under United Nations protection after fighting her cause on social media.
Rahaf al-Qunun, 18, was stopped by Thai immigration control and had her passport confiscated while travelling to Australia to seek asylum.
Qunun alleged that her family had subjected her to physical and psychological abuse and said she feared she would be killed if she was sent home.
Thai immigration officials intended to repatriate Qunun on a Kuwait Airlines flight, but she locked herself in the room of an airport hotel. “I’m not leaving my room until I see UNHCR. I want asylum,” she said in a video. After a long delay, UNHCR officials were allowed access to Qunun to assess her case.
Global media interest and appeals by diplomats and activists appeared to have had an impact. Thailand “will not force her” to leave, a senior official in charge of immigration Surachate Hakparn said. “If deporting her would result in her death, we definitely wouldn’t want to do that.”
Qunun expressed relief at being safe “under UNHCR protection with the agreement of Thailand authorities”. Australia’s department of foreign affairs said it was monitoring.
Qunun’s case echoes an escape attempt by Dina Ali Lasloom, 24, who tried to make an asylum claim in Australia in 2017. She was stopped at Manila airport in the Philippines and put on to a flight to the Saudi capital Riyadh, her mouth taped shut and her arms and legs bound. She has not been heard from since.