Author: Doug Stanglin / Source: USA TODAY
Canadian FM Chrystia Freeland says the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees found that a Saudi woman fleeing alleged family abuse was in a dangerous situation and that Canada was glad to be able to act quickly and offer her refuge. (Jan. 12) AP
A Saudi teenager fleeing alleged family abuse arrived in Canada Saturday as an asylum refugee after a harrowing journey in which she was almost forcibly deported back home while changing planes in Thailand.
At one point, 18-year-old Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun had barricaded herself in an airport hotel in Bangkok to avoid being taken by Thai authorities.
She stirred worldwide sympathy by tweeting about her plight during the week-long ordeal, prompting the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to declare that she was fleeing alleged family abuse and was in a dangerous situation.
The teenage said she feared her family would kill her because she renounced Islam.
Under Saudi’s strict system of male guardianship, women must get permission from their father, husband, brother or even a son in order to travel or marry.
Thailand’s immigration police chief Surachate Hakparn told CNN…
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