After being deported from Thailand to her homeland, a young woman from Saudi Arabia is now waiting to leave for a third country. 18-year-old Rahaf Mohammed al-Kunun was in the care of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today. She was allowed to leave the airport of Thailand’s capital Bangkok.
According to UN figures, it will probably take several days to decide where to go. The woman, who claims to have been abused by her own family, is seeking asylum. Supposedly she has an entry visa for Australia. The UNHCR representative in Thailand, Giuseppe de Vicentiis, said: „We are very grateful that the Thai authorities have not sent Ms. Kunun home against her will.“
The woman had dropped out of her family during a visit to Kuwait and flown to Thailand. There they prevented the authorities at the weekend, however, on the planned onward journey to Australia and set her. With a campaign on the news service Twitter, she managed to draw international attention to the case. In the meantime, her Twitter account is followed by more than 80,000 people.
