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Watch: Saudi teenager seeking asylum to be sent home, say Thai officials

WION Web Team
Bangkok, ThailandUpdated: Jan 07, 2019, 11:27 AM IST
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Photograph:(Reuters)

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Thai officials said Qunun was "waiting to board the flight" which was reportedly set to fly to Australia.

A Saudi teenager who has barricaded herself in Thailand's airport transit area would be sent back home, Thai authorities said today.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, pleaded on Twitter for asylum and asked the Thai government not to deport her back to Kuwait.

"I ask 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."

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Thai officials said Qunun was "waiting to board the flight" which was reportedly set to fly to Australia.

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The incident comes in the backdrop of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder who was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by Saudi men against who court cases are underway in the country.

Thai authorities, meanwhile, have denied acting on behalf of the Saudi government. The officials said she did not have the correct documents for a visa on arrival.

Human Rights Watch said she is fleeing Saudi Arabia to avoid abuse by her family and wants to meet the UN refugee agency to claim asylum.