Thread: Saudi woman 'trapped at Bangkok airport trying to flee family'

...forgive her: she's a product of Saudi education for girls...I think it's amazing she even got this far on her own...

Perhaps she thinks Canada is a suburb of Sydney, hence the original tourist visa for Australia.

Originally Posted by foobar

the Austrian mainland?

...probably: no islands in Austria...

Originally Posted by tomcat

...probably: no islands in Austria...

The Donauinsel is what exactly then?

Originally Posted by buriramboy

Donauinsel is what

...German for troll...

Originally Posted by tomcat

...German for troll...

Not showing the ignorance of an aging fairy then......

UN asks Australia to consider Saudi teen for 'refugee resettlement'


The UN has said an 18-year-old Saudi woman who fled her family is a legitimate refugee and has asked Australia to resettle her, Canberra said Wednesday, as the Twitter-led campaign to grant her asylum edged towards resolution.


Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun was stopped by authorities at Bangkok's main airport as she arrived on a flight from Kuwait on the weekend after running away from her family, who she says subjected her to physical and psychological abuse.


Thailand initially said it would deport her at the request of Saudi embassy officials, barring her from travelling on to Australia where Qunun said she had intended to claim asylum.


But armed with a phone, she barricaded herself into an airside hotel room and fought back -- live-tweeting her fears of deportation in a campaign that swiftly galvanised international support and prompted a sharp U-turn by Thai officials.
Qunun is now in the care of the UN's refugee agency in Bangkok, which is processing her case.


"The UNHCR has referred Ms Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun to Australia for consideration for refugee resettlement," Australia's Department of Home Affairs confirmed in a statement.


The department said it will "consider this referral in the usual way, as it does with all UNHCR referrals".



Australian officials have strongly hinted that Qunun's 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 had said before the UN determination was public.



- Tweet to victory -


Qunun's desperate tweets ricocheted across social media with the #SaveRahaf hashtag drawing an outpouring of support but also the bile of some hardliners in her native country.


She only joined the social media site at the start of this month but has quickly racked up more than 100,000 followers.


Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch said Qunun had renounced Islam, which puts her at "serious risk" of prosecution in Saudi Arabia.


Her father and brother arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday, but Qunun "refused to see" them, according to Thai immigration police chief Surachate Hakparn, who has been caught up in the international firestorm since Qunun's arrival.


He said the family's patriarch had met with the UNHCR on Wednesday morning and will return to "her country" later today.


"Her father is relieved that she is safe," Surachate said, adding that the "UNHCR will find a third country that will accept her in two days".


A UNHCR representative told AFP "the process is still ongoing".



On Sunday Qunun told AFP her family was "abusive" and once locked her in a room for six months just for cutting her hair.


Fleeing them while travelling in Kuwait throws her into conflict of Saudi Arabia's "guardianship" system, which allows male family members to make decisions on behalf of female relatives, she said.


That makes it "100 percent" certain she will be killed by her family if she is returned to Saudi, she added.


Footage released by Thai immigration shows Abdulilah al-Shouaibi, Saudi embassy charge d'affaires in Bangkok, complaining in a meeting Tuesday with Surachate that Qunun's smartphone should have been confiscated.


"When she arrived, she open a new (Twitter) account and her followers grew to 45,000 in one day," he said in Arabic.
"It would have been better if they had confiscated her mobile instead of her passport."


Armed with a phone, Qunun barricaded herself into an airside hotel room and fought back.


The Saudi embassy in Bangkok said it "did not demand her deportation" and that the case is "a family affair".


By Thursday afternoon, Qunun had returned to posting updates on Twitter, promising to "broadcast continuously to assure" the public of her condition.



"I have prepared my strength and will continue my journey to reach a safe country," she tweeted in Arabic.


The ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia has come under fire since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the country's consulate in Istanbul last year.

https://www.afp.com/en/news/3954/un-...nt-doc-1c32ii2

Good girl. Well done, you are very brave person.

Originally Posted by misskit

Saudi embassy charge d'affaires in Bangkok, complaining in a meeting Tuesday with Surachate that Qunun's smartphone should have been confiscated.

Originally Posted by misskit

The Saudi embassy in Bangkok said it "did not demand her deportation" and that the case is "a family affair".

taking her phone's a bit harsh for a family affair

Shows how these people think.

Like she's a miscreant kid and he's teacher.

Originally Posted by misskit

Abdulilah al-Shouaibi, Saudi embassy charge d'affaires in Bangkok, complaining in a meeting Tuesday with Surachate that Qunun's smartphone should have been confiscated.

"It would have been better if they had confiscated her mobile instead of her passport."

Saudi professional finger-pointing at its best - tis all Thailands fault - idiots didn't have 'nuff sense to steal her phone and throw her in a cell.

There have been more than a few runaway Shaikha's over the years. A couple have been forcibly returned, but in other cases the families have just said "get on with it" and cut off the platinum cards. Usually they are back home not long after.

Originally Posted by Neverna

I now expect to read of scores of Saudi women feeling the kingdom and claiming asylum. They just need a Twitter account and the balls to say they've renounced Islam.

...you're getting a bit overheated here: Saudi women feel the kingdom every minute of their lives...*cough*...they don't need to renounce Islam to flea...

Originally Posted by Neverna

I now expect to read of scores of Saudi women feeling the kingdom and claiming asylum. They just need a Twitter account and the balls to say they've renounced Islam. The rest should be easy.

Who would blame them?

And they will be young, possibly very attractive and eager to learn the ways of Western men.

WTF are you moaning about.

I'm not moaning.

Originally Posted by Neverna

I now expect to read of scores of Saudi women fleeing the kingdom and claiming asylum. They just need a Twitter account and the balls to say they've renounced Islam. The rest should be easy.

Easier said than done.

Girl has some balls to try and do a runner under her own steam via Bangkok given the fate of the girl in 2013 who vanished trying to do the same thing via Manila.

Defo deserves a visa if only for delivering a well deserved international PR rout.

Originally Posted by Looper

Easier said than done.

Girl has some balls to try and do a runner under her own steam via Bangkok given the fate of the girl in 2013 who vanished trying to do the same thing via Manila.

Defo deserves a visa if only for delivering a well deserved international PR rout.

Yes, definitely not a good idea to go to some shithole where any Saudi can hand over an envelope of cash that equates to a lifetime of earnings.

I think that's why this one was headed for Australia, but she didn't bank on them hauling her off a plane and taking her passport.

I suspect this was not done at a particularly high level though, otherwise they could easily have just marched her through immigration and off to the embassy for some "re-education" or a slice and dice.

Thank fuck for that free airport Wifi eh? Unless she turned on roaming, which is great because her dad will get a bastard of a bill.

Saudi teenager Rahaf Alqunun's first reaction to the news Australia might resettle her was disbelief, then emojis.

"Is it true??? Australia wants me to go there??? I'm so happy," she wrote, followed by emojis showing hands pressed together in thanks, a smiley face, and a woman dancing.

https://www.xxx.xxx.xx/news/2019-01-...ption/10703984

I'm sure the Thais will be happy to shift the problem to Australia. The U.N. is as popular in Australia ATM as muslim and African immigrants.

Originally Posted by tomcat

.they don't need to renounce Islam to flea...

But they do need to renounce Islam to midge or to mosquito.

^ Getting one back on TC manny.

Originally Posted by Hugh Cow

^ Getting one back on TC manny.

I thought he'd appreciate it as it's exactly his style of witty repartee