Saudi teen fleeing family who ‘imprisoned’ her locks herself in hotel to avoid capture
AN 18-year-old Sadia woman fleeing her family has barricaded herself inside a Thai airport hotel for fear that Thai immigration officials, who have gathered outside her door, would force her on to a plane to leave the country.
Saudi woman questioned by airport security after fleeing family
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun has been at Bangkok airport since Saturday having fled from her family and she fears that if she is repatriated her family will kill her. Ms Qunun was denied entry by Thai immigration officials, who deny her accusations that she was detained at the request of Saudi Arabia. Thailand have since reversed plans to expel the teenager due to concerns over her safety, the immigration chief said.
Ms Qunun posted a picture on Monday of her barricading her hotel door with a table and a mattress.
She told Reuters she fled Kuwait while her family was visiting the Gulf country and had planned to travel from Thailand to Australia to seek asylum.
She said she was detained after leaving her plane in Bangkok and told she would be sent back to Kuwait.
Ms Qunun said by text and voice message from the hotel on Sunday: “My brothers and family and the Saudi embassy will be waiting for me in Kuwait.
“They will kill me. My life is in danger.
“My family threatens to kill me for the most trivial things.”
Asked why she was seeking refuge in Australia, she said: “Physical, emotional and verbal abuse and being imprisoned inside the house for months.
“They threaten to kill me and prevent me from continuing my education.
“They wont let me drive or travel. I am oppressed.
“I love life and work and I am very ambitious but my family is preventing me from living.”
The Saudi Foreign Ministry denied her allegations that its embassy had confiscated her passport, saying in a Tweet she was stopped at the airport for violating Thai immigration laws.
Her family could not immediately be reached for comment.
In her initial social media pleas, the Saudi teen said her family was powerful in Saudi society but she did not identify them.
Said culture and guardianship policy requires women to have permission from a male relative to work, travel, marry, and even get some medial treatment.
The deeply conservative Muslim country lifted a ban on when drivers last year.
Thai immigration authorities said Ms Qunun was refused entry because she did not have the proper documents.
They have since reversed plans to expel Miss Qunun due to concerns over her safety, the immigration chief said.
Surachate Hakparn, the chief of immigration police, told reporters: “The flight this morning was via Kuwait Airlines to send her back to Saudi Arabia.”
He also told reporters he would meet UNHCR, the United Nations’ refugee agency, later in the day to discuss her asylum plans.
In a statement UNHCR said: “UNHCR consistently advocated that refugees and asylum seekers… cannot be returned to their countries of origin according to the principle of non-refoulement, which prevents states from expelling or returning persons to a territory where their life or freedom would be threatened.”
New York-based Human Rights Watch said Thailand should not send miss Qunun back to her family because she says she faces danger.