BANGKOK, Jan 09 (BBC): A Saudi woman who fled her family and refused to leave a Bangkok hotel has been declared a legitimate refugee by the UN, the Australian government says.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, refused to board a flight from Bangkok to Kuwait on Monday and barricaded herself into her airport hotel room.
She said she had renounced Islam, which is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.
The UN's refugee agency has referred her case to Australia for possible resettlement.
Thai immigration officials had initially said she should return to Kuwait, where her family were waiting. She then started a social media campaign, live-tweeting her case and attracting international attention.
In a brief statement, Australia's Department of Home Affairs said it would "consider this referral in the usual way".
"The government will be making no further comment on this matter," it said.
Refugee status is normally granted by governments, but the UNHCR can grant it where states are "unable or unwilling to do so, according to its website. The UNHCR says it does not comment on individual cases.
Now that Ms Mohammed-al Qunun has been given this status, another country must agree to take her in.
Officials in Australia have hinted that her request will be accepted.
"If she is found to be a refugee, then we will give very, very, very serious consideration to a humanitarian visa," Health Minister Greg Hunt told the ABC network before the UN determination was made public.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne will be in Thailand on Thursday as part of a pre-planned visit.
Rahaf is an inspiration. But she's not the first one who did this and definitely not the last one.
What we are going through is awful. We think about this every day because us women here do not know what it feels like to go out. We don't know what freedom tastes like.
Dad keeps my passport with him all the time, we go to hotels and he puts it next to him when he sleeps.
Unfortunately it's not a revolution. Every girl that is tweeting about this, it's either that she has already escaped or she's using a fake account like me. Some people tweeted me or DMed me to tell me to use my real account, for me to be brave.
We do not want the guardianship any more. I want to go out of the house and drink coffee from Starbucks. I don't have to take my whole family. This is just way too harsh on us.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
