A Saudi woman being held at Bangkok airport on Monday appealed for asylum and for other passengers to help protest her looming deportation, in desperate tweets from the hotel room where she barricaded herself.
The 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 criticism of the kingdom’s rights record.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun stated she ran away from her family while travelling in Kuwait because they subjected her to physical and psychological abuse.
She said she had planned to travel to Australia and seek asylum there, and feared she would be killed if she was repatriated by Thai immigration officials who stopped her during transit on Sunday.
The 18-year-old said she was stopped by Saudi and Kuwaiti officials when she arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport and her travel document was forcibly taken from her, a claim backed by Human Rights Watch.
She tweeted that she was due to be deported on a Kuwait Airways flight to Kuwait due to depart at 11.15am (0415 GMT).
“I ask the the government of Thailand… to stop my deportation to Kuwait,” she said on Twitter. “I ask the police in Thailand to start my asylum process.”
Shortly before the scheduled departure, Qunun posted a plea for people within “the transit area in Bangkok to protest against deporting me”.
“Please I need u all,” she wrote. “I’m shouting out for help of humanity.”
In a sign of growing desperation during the night, Qunun posted video of her barricading her hotel room door with furniture.
If sent back, she said she will likely be imprisoned, and is “sure 100 percent” her family will kill her.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun said she ran away from her family because they subjected her to physical and psychological abuse.
A senior Thai immigration official said Sunday that Qunun was denied entry because she lacked “further documents such as return ticket or money” and Thailand had contacted the “Saudi Arabia embassy to coordinate”.
Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch said Qunun “faces grave harm if she is forced back to Saudi Arabia” and Thailand should allow her to see the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and apply for asylum.
