Rahaf al-Qunun: Thailand vows not to deport Saudi woman

7 January 2019

Thailand's immigration police chief says they will not deport a Saudi woman who fled her family at the weekend, due to concerns for her safety.

Thai immigration officials had tried to return Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, to Kuwait, where her family is.

She refused to board a flight to Kuwait City on Monday, and barricaded herself into her hotel room at Bangkok airport.

The teenager said she believed her family would kill her if she went back because she had renounced Islam.

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Saudi woman fleeing family won't be deported, say Thai officials

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun denied entry to Thailand by immigration officials en route to Australia

Jamie Fullerton in Kuala Lumpur and Helen Davidson
Mon 7 Jan 2019 11.30 GMT

An 18-year-old woman detained in Thailand after fleeing her family in Saudi Arabia and renouncing Islam will not be sent back to the Middle East against her wishes, Thai officials have said.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun barricaded herself inside a transit zone hotel room in Bangkok airport to prevent immigration officials putting her on a flight to Kuwait. She was denied entry to Thailand while en route to Australia, where she has a three-month multiple-entry tourist visa and said she was intending to seek asylum.

Qunun says she would be killed if she was returned to Saudi Arabia and has vowed not to leave the hotel room until she can see representatives from the United Nations high commissioner for refugees.

“I am Rahaf … I am in the hotel, I need a country to protect me as soon as possible. I am seeking asylum,” Qunun said in a video posted on social media.

Samut Prakan, the head of Thailand’s immigration bureau, said: “If deporting her would result in her death, we definitely wouldn’t want to do that.” Qunun would speak to UNHCR representatives later on Monday, he added.

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