Saudi woman trapped at Bangkok airport

An 18-Year-old Saudi Arabian woman, Rahaf Mohammed Al Qunun is held at the Bangkok airport. Rahaf had renounced Islam and fled her family while travelling in Kuwait. It is feared that she would be killed if she will be repatriated.

Background

Human rights in Saudi Arabia are intended to be based on the Wahhabi religious laws under the absolute rule of the Saudi royal family. The strict regime ruling the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is consistently ranked among the "worst of the worst" in Freedom House's annual survey of political and civil rights. Saudi women face discrimination in many aspects of their lives, such as the justice system, and under the male guardianship system are effectively treated as legal minors.

Human rights are rights a person is guaranteed on the basis only that they were born as a human being. The following are universal human rights that are most relevant:

•      the right to freedom from torture or degrading treatment

•      the right to freedom of opinion and expression

•      the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion

•      the right to life, liberty, and security

•      freedom from discrimination

Analysis

The Human Rights Watch has called on Thailand authorities to stop the planned deportation of a Saudi woman who is being held at Bangkok's main airport.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, aged 18 - said she is trying to escape her family because they had subjected her to physical and psychological abuse. She was in transit en route to seeking asylum in Australia – a country to where she claimed to have a visa. Ms. Mohammed al-Qunun was in Kuwait on holiday with her family when she fled. Kuwait, unlike Saudi Arabia, does not require a male relative’s approval for an adult woman to depart the country.

Her passport was seized by a Saudi diplomat when he met her coming off the flight at Suvarnabhumi airport. Saudi officials say she still has her passport but is being detained for not having a return ticket. Ms. Qunan said that she was fleeing abuse from her family, including beatings and death threats from her male relatives, who also forced her to remain in her room for six months for cutting her hair. She had renounced Islam, and fears that she would be forcibly returned to Saudi Arabia and killed by her family. She is set to be deported to Kuwait "where most of her family lives".

“Saudi women fleeing their families can face severe violence from relatives, deprivation of liberty, and other serious harm if returned against their will,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Thai authorities should immediately halt any deportation, and either allow her to continue her travel to Australia or permit her to remain in Thailand to seek protection as a refugee".   “Saudi authorities do not have the authority to hold her at the airport or anywhere else," the statement said. Officials are now in touch with her father, it added.

Human Rights Watch Asia deputy director Phil Robertson said: "It seems that the Thai government is manufacturing a story that she tried to apply for a visa and it was denied... in fact, she had an onward ticket to go to Australia, she didn't want to enter Thailand in the first place." He argued that the Thai authorities had clearly co-operated with Saudi Arabia as Saudi officials were able to meet the plane when it arrived.

Georg Schmidt, Germany’s ambassador to Thailand, tweeted his support for Qunun, saying: “We share the great concern for Rahaf Mohammed and are in touch with the Thai side and the embassies of the countries she approached.” Robertson said there was “no doubt” Qunun needed refugee protection. “Rahaf faces grave harm if she is forced back to Saudi Arabia so she should be allowed to see UNHCR and apply for asylum, and Thailand should agree to follow whatever the UN refugee agency decides,” Robertson said. “She’s desperately fearful of her family, including her father who is a senior government official, and given Saudi Arabia’s long track record of looking the other way in so-called honour violence incidents, her worry that she could be killed if returned cannot be discounted,” he said.

The UNHCR said that according to the principle of non-refoulment, asylum seekers cannot be returned to their country of origin if their life is under threat. Rahaf is now under the care of the UNHCR in Thailand at the Suvarnabhumi airport. It is expected to take the UN five days to assess Qunun’s application for refugee status. If successful, she will be sent to a third country. Qunun has told UNHCR officials she “wants to stay in Thailand for a while seeking asylum to a third country”.  

Qunun had a valid three-month tourist visa for Australia, which was cancelled unexpectedly. Human rights activists have requested the Australian government to act quickly to ensure Ms. Qunun is granted asylum in Australia.

Assessment

Our assessment is that Thai authorities had so far prevented Ms. Qunun from having access to UNHCR to make a refugee claim even though it is evident she is seeking international protection. We feel that this incident comes against the backdrop of intense scrutiny of Saudi Arabia over its investigation and handling of the shocking murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year, which has renewed international criticism of the Kingdom’s human rights track record.