Australian FM says country weighing visa for Saudi in Thailand

Australia’s foreign minister Thursday declined to say how long it will take to consider a UN request to resettle a young Saudi woman who fled her family, as the 18-year-old’s plight sparked a topless protest in Sydney and debate among Saudis over their country’s restrictive “guardianship” laws.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun’s attempt to flee the ultraconservative kingdom has become a cause celebre for rights groups since the 18-year-old landed in Bangkok from Kuwait last weekend.

Thai authorities threatened to deport her but with the help of activists, diplomats and a hastily opened Twitter account Qunun launched an impassioned asylum campaign.

As global interest surged – and her Twitter followers snowballed into the tens of thousands – the Thais backed down from deportation, handing her into the care of the UN refugee agency in Bangkok, which urged Australia to offer resettlement.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne, on a scheduled visit to Bangkok to meet her Thai counterpart, told reporters Australia was “engaged in the steps of the assessment process of Miss Al-Qunun as required.”

She said there was “no possibility” that Qunun would return to Australia with her Thursday and would not speculate on a time frame if – as Canberra has heavily hinted this week – she is granted refuge status.

Qunun alleges abuse by her family while rights groups also said she had renounced Islam, risking prosecution in conservative Saudi Arabia.

Her father, who denies mistreating her, will remain in Bangkok “until he knows which country she is going to,” Thailand’s immigration police chief told reporters Thursday.

The Saudi Embassy in Bangkok has said it did not demand the teenager’s deportation and the case was a family affair.

Saudi Arabia has been hammered with criticism since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the country’s consulate in Istanbul last year.

But wider issues including women’s rights have repeatedly come into the global view.