The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday said that the asylum assessment of an 18-year-old Saudi Arabian girl who fled to Thailand will take “several days” to complete. The statement comes a day after the Thai government allowed Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun to remain in the care of UNHCR; Saudi Arabia has denied reports it sought to force her to return.
The story of Rahaf has made global headlines since she started tweeting after her arrival in Thailand on January 6 about her desire to escape from her strict family. There was outrage on social media on Monday after Rahaf claimed officials from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were trying to make her leave her room in a transit hotel in Bangkok to board a flight to Kuwait City.
Rahaf had fled her family when they were on a visit to Kuwait; she claimed she reached Thailand in order to go to Australia to seek asylum.
A Twitter handle purported to belong to Rahaf and numerous activists live-tweeted developments related to plans to deport her to Kuwait on Monday, after which Thai officials allowed her to leave the airport and placed her in the care of UNHCR.
Giuseppe de Vicentiis, the UNHCR representative in Thailand, claimed the agency would take several days to process the case of Rahaf and determine next steps.
Meanwhile, the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Thailand tweeted that its officials had not met Rahaf or impounded her passport.
The story of Rahaf has refocussed media attention on the state of women's rights in Saudi Arabia, which imposes tough restrictions on women. Rahaf had earlier told the BBC that she had renounced Islam and feared she could get killed if she was sent back.
