Australia delivers praise and a reminder for Thailand over asylum cases
Australia’s foreign minister praised Thailand for its handling of a young Saudi woman who fled her family to seek asylum in Australia, but also reminded it of continuing concern about a Bahraini soccer player granted asylum in Australia who remains in Thai detention.
Marise Payne met with senior Thai officials in Bangkok on Thursday after Australia announced it would assess the request for asylum by 18-year-old Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, who was stopped Saturday at a Bangkok airport on her way to Australia and her passport seized. She said she was fleeing abuse by her family.
Payne told reporters Australia’s review of Alqunun’s case is already under way.
She quashed speculation that Alqunun might accompany her back to Australia “because there are steps which are required in the process which Australia, and any other country considering such a matter, would have to go through.”
Confined to an airport transit hotel, Alqunun conducted an online appeal for help, garnering tens of thousands of followers on Twitter and enough public and diplomatic support to convince Thai officials to admit her temporarily under the protection of UN officials. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees quickly deemed her a legitimate refugee.
Alqunun’s case has highlighted the cause of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. Several female Saudis fleeing abuse by their families have been caught trying to seek asylum abroad in recent years and returned home. Human rights activists say many similar cases have gone unreported.
Alqunu has attracted interest worldwide, particularly in Australia. In downtown Sydney on Thursday, four women calling themselves the Secret Sisterhood held a topless protest outside the building housing the Saudi Consulate, calling on Australia to grant Alqunun residency.
Alqunun’s father arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday, but his daughter refused to meet with him. Thailand Immigration Police chief Lt. Gen. Surachate Hakparn said the father denied physically abusing Alqunun or trying to force her into an arranged marriage, which were among the reasons she gave for her flight.
Surachate said the father wanted his daughter back but respected her decision. Surachate described him as a governor in Saudi Arabia.
“He has 10 children. He said the daughter might feel neglected sometimes,” Surachate said.
Payne was also asked by reporters about the case of Hakeem al-Araibi, a 25-year-old former member of Bahrain’s national soccer team, who was granted refugee status in Australia in 2017 after fleeing his homeland, where he said he was persecuted and tortured. He was arrested while on holiday in Thailand last November due to an Interpol notice in which Bahrain sought his custody after he was sentenced in absentia in 2014 to 10 years in prison for allegedly vandalising a police station — a charge he denies. Bahrain is seeking his extradition.
She said she raised Australia’s concerns about the case with Thailand’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister.
“The Thai government is most certainly aware of the importance of this matter to Australia.”
Al-Araibi, who plays for Melbourne’s Pascoe Vale Football Club, has been publicly critical of the Bahrain royal family’s alleged involvement in sports scandals.
Al-Araibi has said he was blindfolded and had his legs beaten while he was held in Bahrain in 2012. He said he believed he was targeted for arrest because of his Shiite faith and because his brother was politically active.