SAUDI TEEN’S NEW HOME
An 18-year-old Saudi runaway who said she feared being killed if she was deported back home has arrived in Canada.
Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun smiled broadly as she arrived at Toronto airport yesterday.
She walked arm- in- arm with the country’s foreign minister Chrystia Freeland, who said: “This a very brave new Canadian.”
Rahaf ’s arrival capped a dramatic week that saw her flee her family while on a visit to Kuwait. She caught a flight to Thailand and barricaded herself in a Bangkok airport hotel to avoid deportation.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau announced on Friday that his country would accept Rahaf as a refugee. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees welcomed the move.
Rahaf’s case has highlighted the plight of women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia.