A Saudi woman who fled her family 𒈔to avoid forced marriage and has been detained in Thailand on Tuesday sought asylum in Canada amid doubts about the status of her Australian visa.
"I want Canada to give me asylum," the 18-year-old tweeted, af♉ter🎃 doubts were raised over the status of her tourist visa for Australia.
The Deputy Asia Director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), Phil Robert꧃son, told Efe that they were waiting for the official confirmation by Australian authorities that al-Qunun's visa has been cancelled.
Robertson said it is common for countries to cancel visas when they fi🐲nd out that the app🐈licant intends to stay in the country as in the case of al-Qunun
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun arrived at Bangkok's main airport over ඣthe weekend on a flight fro꧃m Kuwait after running away from her family who she alleges subjected her to physical and psychological abuse.
The 18-year-old said she had planned to seek asylum in Australi🥂a, fearing she would be killed if sent back by Thai immigration officials who stopped her at the airport on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia's parlous rights record has been under heavy scrutiny s✤ince the murder of🥂 journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year.
Initially, Thai🌱 authorities said Qunun would be sent ♋back to Saudi Arabia.
But as her plight pinballed across social media -- including tweets💎 about how she had barricaded herself in a hotel room -- they abruptly changed cou🅺rse and allowed her to leave the airport late on Monday in UNHCR's care.
The agency said it was "very grateful"🌞 that officials did not send Qunun back against her will.
"It could take several days to process the case and determine next steps," the UNH💜CR representativ💮e in Thailand, Giuseppe de Vicentiis, said in a statement.
Thai🥂land is not a signatory to a UN convention on refugees, and asylum seekers are typically deported or wait years to be resettled in th♌ird countries.
The UNHCR insists anyone with an asylum claim should not b🌠e sent back to the country they fled under the principl𒁃e of non-refoulement.
Saudi Ar💮abia's embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
But in an ext💞ensive explanation released on Twitter, the emb♔assy denied sending officials to Suvarnabhumi airport to meet Qunun as she arrived from Kuwait, where her family live.
It also said h𒊎er passport had not been impounded as alleged while explaining it is in contact with her father, a senior regional☂ government official in the kingdom, "to inform him on her situation".
Another official told a Saudi-⛎owned TV channel that Qunun's father had contacted the mission for "help" in bringing her back.
Ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia has some of the world's toughest re𒉰strictions on women, including a guardianship system that allജows male family members to make decisions on behalf of female relatives.
Qunun has said she believes she will be imp🍷risoned or killed if sent back and that her family is so stri﷽ct it once locked her in a room for six months for cutting her hair.
Under the hashtag #SaveRahaf, the young woman's desperate pleas became a social media sensation, where she was able to post live updates and video🌳s from the Bangkok airport in both Arabic and English, racking up more than 80,000𝕴 followers.
Late on Monday, her𒈔 Twitter account said that her father had arrived in Bangkok. AFP was not able to independently verify the news.
(AFP)
