Canada will accept a Saudi teenager who fled alleged abuse from her family as a refugee, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The prime minister was asked about the case of Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, during a media availability in Regina on Friday.
“The [UN High Commissioner for Refugees] has made a request of Canada that we accept Ms. al-Qunun as a refugee and we have accepted the UN’s request that we grant her asylum,” he told reporters.
Thailand’s immigration chief had already told reporters the teen was on her way from Thailand to Canada
“Canada has granted her asylum,” Surachate Hakpark told Reuters. “She’ll leave tonight at 11:15 p.m.,” which is 11:15 a.m. ET.
Jean-Nicolas Beuze, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Canada, told CBC News earlier on Friday that he couldn’t provide any information at this stage “for protection reasons.”
Several countries, including Canada and Australia, were in talks with the United Nations refugee agency to accept Qunun, who was stopped at a Bangkok airport on Saturday by Thai immigration police who denied her entry and seized her passport.
While barricading herself in an airport hotel room, Qunun launched a social media campaign via her Twitter account that drew global attention to her case. It garnered enough public and diplomatic support to convince Thai officials to admit her temporarily under the protection of UN officials.
The UNHCR eventually granted her refugee status on Wednesday.
“For the protection of Ms. al-Qunun, we are not able to provide any comments at this moment,” UNHCR spokesperson Giselle Nyembwe told CBC News.
Activists say similar cases go unreported
Qunun’s case has highlighted the cause of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. Several female Saudis fleeing abuse by their families have been caught trying to seek asylum abroad in recent years and returned home. Human rights activists say many similar cases have gone unreported.
By Friday, Qunun had closed down her Twitter account. Sophie McNeill, a reporter with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation who has had exclusive access to Qunun, said Friday in a Twitter posting that Qunun “is safe and fine.”
“She’s just been receiving a lot of death threats,” McNeill wrote, adding that Qunun would be back on Twitter after a “short break.”
Qunun had previously said on Twitter that she wishes to seek refuge in Australia.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne met with senior Thai officials in Bangkok on Thursday. She later told reporters that Australia assessing Qunun’s request for resettlement, but there was no specific timeframe.
Payne said she also raised Australia’s concerns with Thai officials about Hakeem al-Araibi, a 25-year-old former member of Bahrain’s national soccer team, who was granted refugee status in Australia in 2017 after fleeing his homeland, where he said he was persecuted and tortured.
Al-Araibi’s case is being considered by Thailand’s justice system, she said.
from Update Trend News http://bit.ly/2AH8kxT
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