Jan 8, 2019 – 11:05
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, a Saudi woman who claims to be fleeing her country and family, is seen in Bangkok, Thailand January 7, 2019 in this still image taken from a video obtained from social media. TWITTER/ @rahaf84427714/via REUTERS
By Panu Wongcha-um
BANGKOK (Reuters) – The father of an 18-year-old Saudi woman asylum seeker who fled to Thailand saying she feared her family would kill her, has arrived in Bangkok and wants to meet his daughter, Thailand’s immigration chief said on Tuesday.
But Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun’s father and brother would have to wait and see whether the UN refugee agency would allow them to see her, immigration chief Surachate Hakpan said.
“The father and brother want to go and talk to Rahaf but the U.N. will need to approve such talk,” Surachate told reporters.
The U.N. refugee agency on Tuesday said it was investigating Qunun’s case after she fled to Thailand saying she feared her family would kill her if she were sent back to Saudi Arabia.
Activists are concerned about what Saudi Arabia will do after Thai authorities reversed a decision to expel her and allowed Qunun to enter the country under the care of the UNHCR.
“The father is now here in Thailand and that’s a source of concern,” Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch’s deputy director for Asia, told Reuters.
“We have no idea what he is going to do … whether he will try to find out where she is and go harass her. We don’t know whether he is going to try to get the embassy to do that.”
Qunun is staying in a Bangkok hotel while the UNHCR processes her application for refugee status, before she can seek asylum in a third country.
UNHCR staff were interviewing her on Tuesday after meeting her the day before.
“It could take several days to process the case and determine next steps,” UNHCR’s Thailand representative Giuseppe de Vincentiis said in a statement.
“We are very grateful that the Thai authorities did not send back (Qunun) against her will and are extending protection to her,” he said.
more:
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/father-of-saudi-teen-asylum-seeker-in-thailand–seeks-meeting/44664714
Categories: Arab World, Asia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, United Nations
“It will take the UNHCR a few days…” Nice. Normal asylum seekers wait for months and months for a date with UNHCR. This lady has been able to ‘jump the queue’ somehow.
I strongly believe that 75 percent of Saudi’s girls want to run away from home and Saudi to the free countries as well 50 percent of Iran’s girls.
Because the freedom is God’s gift to every one. Now KSA and Iran have taken the freedom from the girls— it is not Islamic law, it is the evil law. Very sad indeed.
Mist Muslim have been deceived by their leaders—or Scholars or Imams. Very sad
🙏
I would say 7.5 and 5.0. Otherwise Bangkok Airport would be more full …