A Saudi Arabian woman who fled her family to seek asylum is facing deportation against her will to Kuwait, where she fears domestic violence and possibly death, rights groups warned.
Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, 18, was stopped in Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on Jan. 5 while attempting to fly from Kuwait to Australia. Rahaf claimed to have a visa for Australia and planned to apply for asylum, according to the Associated Press.
But her passport was reportedly confiscated by a representative from Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Thailand, and she has been held in an airport hotel while awaiting a return on Monday to Kuwait, where she fears her family may torture or even kill her after she renounced Islam.
I’m afraid, my family WILL kill me. #فتاه_تايلند
— Rahaf Mohammed رهف محمد القنون (@rahaf84427714) January 5, 2019
In a statement, the Saudi embassy denied seizing Alqunun’s passport and said she was detained because she did not have a return ticket, the BBC reports.
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