DUBAI: An 18-year old Saudi woman who left Saudi Arabia claiming she was fleeing her family has landed in Canada after being offered asylum there.
Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun had first applied for asylum in Australia, before extending her request to Canada.
She made her plea for asylum after landing at Bangkok airport, before later being placed “under the care” of the United Nations refugee agency, news agency AFP quoted a Thai official saying last week.
This was later confirmed by Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Thailand which also denied, in a tweet, that Riyadh had requested Al-Qunun’s extradition.
On Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada would accept Al-Qunun as a refugee.
The 18-year-old said she had planned to seek asylum in Australia and feared she would be killed if repatriated by Thai immigration officials who stopped her during transit.
