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THAILAND-SAUDI-ARABIA-POLITICS
Injunction filed with Thai court to prevent Saudi woman’s deportation
BANGKOK, Jan 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – An injunction has been filed at Bangkok’s
Criminal Court to prevent a Saudi woman held in Thailand’s airport from being
deported, a lawyer said Monday.
Eighteen-year-old Saudi Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun said she was fleeing her
“abusive” family while travelling in Kuwait, and had flown to Thailand in the
hopes of reaching Australia to seek asylum.
But she was stopped on Sunday when she deplaned in Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi
airport by Kuwaiti and Saudi embassy officials, she said, and has since been
held in an airport hotel awaiting deportation.
Qunun told AFP she feared that she would be killed if she is repatriated to
Saudi Arabia.
Human rights lawyer Nadthasiri Bergman told AFP she filed an injunction at
1:00 pm (1400 GMT) to Bangkok’s criminal court to prevent Qunun’s
deportation.
“In the event when we suspect that someone might be illegally detained, we
request for the court to call the relevant authorities (in) for questioning,”
said Bergman.
“For now, I just called for the immigration and Rahaf herself, and the
staff at the hotel” to be questioned, she added.
Bergman said she was awaiting the court’s decision, and that Thai
authorities had no grounds to hold Qunun if she had a passport and a visa for
travel to Australia.
Thai immigration chief said Qunun was stopped for a lack of documents, and
she had “bought the ticket” to return to Saudi Arabia herself.
The Saudi embassy in Bangkok has issued a statement denying its role in
holding her, and said Thai authorities stopped her for “violating the law”.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1436 hrs