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In a week he passed from being barricaded into a Bangkok airport hotel to the most recognized refugee on the planet. Tired but smiling, wearing a Canadian sweater and a cap from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, was greeted in Toronto by Chrystia Freeland, Foreign Minister of the Canada.
In her first interview, after establishing herself in the country, Rahaf assumed she liked to be an inspiration for the women of her country, where she was not allowed to work, marry or travel without the permission of her father or husband . "I believe the number of asylum applications will increase, as nothing could stop the abuses of the Saudi Administration".
She complained that she had received death threats from her family after refusing a combined marriage and renouncing the Islamic religion. In addition, she was the victim of frequent ill-treatment by the family, who among other punishments would keep her in a room for six months because she had cut her hair.
Rahaf, a student of the first year of international studies, admits from the beginning that it was to escape these abuses that had made the decision to leave the family during a visit to neighboring Kuwait in hopes of reaching Australia . But during a stop in the Thai capital she was finally detained by the authorities of the country, ready to deliver it to her family. After barricating himself to the hotel at the airport and refusing to leave for six days, he still feared they would enter the room. He even thought about suicide, signing a good-bye letter. But the fact that he revealed his case to the world on Twitter, an appeal that quickly became viral, made the difference to achieve the much desired kindergarten.
After hours of negotiations, he was finally under the protection of UNHCR. Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt was the first to speak publicly: "If you are considered a refugee, we will evaluate the granting of a humanitarian visa." But a faster process in Canada, which was also available to receive it immediately, sent it from the other side of the planet. "I just wanted to live in a country that wanted to protect me," Rahaf confesses.
His father, who is governor in Saudi Arabia, and his brother, who has traveled to Thailand in an attempt to bring her home, have ended up announcing that she has denied her and that Rahaf was obviously "mentally unstable". The Society for Human Rights supported by the Saudi Arabian government also issued a statement accusing several foreign countries of inciting "Saudi delinquent women to rebel against the values of their families under the pretext of granting them asylum".
Seen from Human Rights Watch
Compared to other countries in the Middle East, women's rights are very limited in Saudi Arabia, which in the last two years has ranked 141 out of 144 countries in a report on gender inequality in the world. That country, which was also the center of global attention in 2018 for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, not only arrested but also tortured activists and dissidents, including women who fought for their rights. In June, Riyadh revoked the ban on women who drove cars, but a fortnight before had arrested a number of women's rights defenders, accusing them of numerous serious crimes such as betrayal. At the end of the year, at least nine of them were detained without charge.
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