TRUDEAU: CANADA GRANTING ASYLUM TO SAUDI WOMAN FLEEING ALLEGED ABUSE
Jan 11, 2019
By Bob Komsic
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18-year-old Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun is on her way to Canada from Thailand.
(Associated Press)
”The (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) has made a request of Canada that we accept Ms. al-Qunun as a refuee and we have accepted the UN’s request that we grant her asylum,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed.
Thailand’s immigration chief had earlier said the young woman was heading to this country.
She boarded a flight shortly after 11 a.m. Eastern Time.
Several countries were in talks with the UN refugee agency to accept the woman, who was stopped at a Bangkok airport last Saturday by authorities who denied her entry and seized her passport.
While barricaded in an airport hotel room, Qunun launched a social media campaign that attracted global attention.
The UN granted her refugee status Wednesday.
She is fleeing alleged abuse at the hands of her family.