A Saudi woman who barricaded herself in a Bangkok Airport hotel room after fleeing her “abusive” family has been declared a refugee by the UN.
18-year-old Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun remains under the protection of UNHCR refugee authorities following the stand-off with Thai immigration officials on Monday.
She fears she will be murdered by her relatives if she is forced to return home after renouncing Islam and fleeing the country.
Ms Alqunun was detained by Thai authorities after she arrived from Kuwait for a connecting flight to Australia.
After barricading herself in the hotel room, she broadcast videos of her situation on Twitter and pleaded for help from the UN and countries including Canada, Australia and the UK.
Late on Sunday, she warned: "My brothers and family and the Saudi embassy will be waiting for me in Kuwait.
"They will kill me. My life is in danger. My family threatens to kill me for the most trivial things."
"I had been threatened to be killed before and they aren't afraid to threaten me in public," she wrote in another post.
The posts garnered global attention with human rights groups including Amnesty International, the UNHCR and Human Rights Watch getting involved.
All three have urged the Australian government to grant her refugee status.
This morning, the Australian Department of Home Affairs said the UNHCR had referred the case to officials in Canberra who were considering granting the 18-year-old asylum.
It said it would "consider this referral in the usual way" as it does with all UNHCR referrals.
Ms Alqunun’s father and brother have arrived in Bangkok, however officials say she has refused to meet with them.
The Saudi Government has denied claims it sent officials to Thailand to bring the 18-year-old home.
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has not asked for her extradition," the country's embassy said in a tweet. "The embassy considers this issue a family matter."
#KSA's embassy on the girl who claims to have fled from her family to #Thailand for reasons of family violence pic.twitter.com/zQGtI549tI
— مركز الاتصال والإعلام الجديد (@CMCMOFA) January 7, 2019
