{UAH} Saudi woman is trapped at Bangkok airport amid fears family will kill her for renouncing Islam
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'I'm sure 100 percent they will kill me': Saudi woman, 18, tweets that she is trapped in Bangkok airport after her passport was confiscated as she fled from her family who are angry she renounced Islam
- Thai officials confirm they are holding Saudi Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18
- Rahaf is trying to flee her physically and psychologically abusive family
- She said her male guardian reported her for traveling 'without his permission' and that she was '100 per cent sure' her family would kill her at home in Saudi
- She fled two days ago and is trying to claim asylum in Australia, via Bangkok
- Thai officials said it was a 'family matter' and she would be repatriated tomorrow
A Saudi woman is being held in Bangkok after trying to escape her abusive family who she says will kill her on her return to the kingdom.
In a series of tweets starting last night, Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, describes being followed around Bangkok airport by Saudi officials who then robbed her of her passport.
She fled her family on a trip to Kuwait two days ago and is trying to reach Australia, via Bangkok, to seek asylum after renouncing Islam.
But after a relative reported her for travelling without the company of a male guardian she was detained and, as of a video posted at 1pm GMT today, she was being held in the Miracle Transit Hotel at the airport.
Rahaf said: 'My family is strict and locked me in a room for six months just for cutting my hair,' she said, adding that she is certain she will be imprisoned if she is sent back.
'I'm sure 100 percent they will kill me as soon as I get out of the Saudi jail,' she said, adding that she was 'scared' and 'losing hope'.
She added: 'I have been threatened by several staff from the Saudi embassy and the Kuwaiti airlines, and they said "If you run, we will find you and kidnap you, then deal with you" I really don't know how they are going to behave in case I run.'
Thai officials claim it is a family matter and say she will be deported to Saudi - where renouncing Islam is punishable by death - tomorrow.
It is a chilling echo of the case of Dina Ali Lasloom, 24, a Saudi woman who in April 2017 was held for 13 hours in Manilla airport while trying to flee a forced marriage. She was forcibly taken back to Saudi Arabia by uncles and never heard from again.
A Thai official confirmed today that an 18-year-old Saudi woman seeking asylum was denied entry to Thailand and held in Bangkok's airport.
Thailand's immigration chief Surachate Hakparn told AFP: 'Rahaf Mohammed M Alqunun ran away from her family to avoid marriage and she is concerned she may be in trouble returning to Saudi Arabia'.
He added that Thai authorities contacted the 'Saudi Arabia embassy to coordinate'.
Rahaf and Human Rights Watch told AFP she was stopped by Saudi and Kuwaiti officials when she arrived in Suvarnabhumi airport and her passport was forcibly taken from her.
'They took my passport,' she told AFP, adding that her male guardian had reported her for traveling 'without his permission'.
Rahaf said she was trying to flee her family, who subjected her to physical and psychological abuse.
'My family is strict and locked me in a room for six months just for cutting my hair,' she said, adding that she is certain she will be imprisoned if she is sent back.
'I'm sure 100 percent they will kill me as soon as I get out of the Saudi jail,' she said, adding that she was 'scared' and 'losing hope'.
Rahaf was stopped from entering Thailand when she flew in from Kuwait on Sunday, Thailand's immigration chief Surachate Hakparn told AFP.
'She had no further documents such as return ticket or money,' he said, adding that Rahaf was currently in an airport hotel.
'She ran away from her family to avoid marriage and she is concerned she may be in trouble returning to Saudi Arabia. We sent officials to take care of her now,' he said.
He added that Thai authorities had contacted the 'Saudi Arabia embassy to coordinate'.
But Rahaf disputed his account, saying that she was in transit to seek asylum in Australia, where she claimed to have a visa, and was accosted by Saudi and Kuwaiti embassy representatives when she deplaned in Suvarnabhumi airport.
Human Rights Watch Asia deputy director Phil Robertson said: 'What country allows diplomats to wander around the closed section of the airport and seize the passports of the passengers?'
He added that there is 'impunity' within the family unit in Saudi Arabia to abuse women.
Thailand's immigration chief Surachate Hakparn said Rahaf would be sent back to Saudi Arabia by Monday morning, adding, 'It's a family problem'.
In a tweet Ms al-Qunun said: 'I have been detained in an airport hotel. I will be forcibly repatriated tomorrow to Kuwait and then Saudi.
'There is an airport person who constantly follows me. I can't even ask for protection or asylum in Thailand. Thai police refuse to help me.'
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, tweeted: 'I have been detained in an airport hotel. I will be forcibly repatriated tomorrow to Kuwait and then Saudi. There is an airport person who constantly follows me. I can't even ask for protection or asylum in Thailand. Thai police refuse to help me'
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She told the BBC that she had renounced Islam, and feared she would be forcibly returned to Saudi Arabia and killed by her family.
She says she has an Australian visa but her passport was seized by a Saudi diplomat when he met her coming off the flight.
Thai police Major General Surachate Hakparn told the BBC that Ms Mohammed al-Qunun was escaping a marriage.
Because she did not have a visa to enter Thailand, he said police had denied her entry and were in the process of repatriating her through the same airline she had taken, Kuwait Airlines.
Gen Surachate said he was unaware of any passport seizure and it is unclear why Ms Mohammed al-Qunun would need a Thai visa if she was in transit to Australia and had an Australian visa.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun's tweets are being translated and shared online. She says she is in real danger if she is forced to return to Saudi Arabia
In a series of tweets Ms Mohammed al-Qunun described being detained by police at Suvarnabhumi Airport (pictured) and says she fears for her life
Saudi citizens visiting Thailand are also eligible to apply for a visa on arrival when entering the country.
Ms Mohammed al-Qunun detailed her plight on Twitter, saying: 'Because I got nothing to lose I'm going now to share me real name and my all information.'
She also shared a picture of her passport 'because I want you to know I'm real and exist'.
Another tweet read: 'I'm afraid my family will kill me.'
Online, Arabic speakers, human rights activists and journalists have attempted to bring a media spotlight to the case on Twitter using the hashtag #SaveRahaf.
The case had echoes of another Saudi woman who was in transit to Australia in April 2017. Dina Ali Lasloom, 24, was en route from Kuwait via the Philippines but was taken back to Saudi Arabia from Manila airport by her family.
She used a Canadian tourist's phone to send a message, a video of which was posted to Twitter, saying her family would kill her. Her fate on arriving back in Saudi Arabia remains unknown.
The Saudi embassy in Thailand and officials in Riyadh could not be reached for immediate comment.
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Saudi woman is trapped at Bangkok airport after trying to flee family amid fears they would kill her
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