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SAUDI-TEEN-ASYLUM
Saudi teen’s asylum case being judged at lightning speed
SYDNEY, Jan 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Australian authorities are weighing a
young Saudi woman’s asylum claim at unusual speed, several lawyers and legal
experts have told AFP, contrasting her high-profile plight with a normally
excruciatingly slow system.
Canberra has insisted it will treat the case of 18-year-old Rahaf Mohammed
al-Qunun “in the usual way, as it does with all” refugee cases referred by
the United Nations.
But just days after fleeing a powerful and allegedly abusive family in
Saudi Arabia, Qunun has already been judged a legitimate refugee by the UN
and been in contact with Australian officials in Bangkok about resettlement.
Hers is not the plight of refugees who languish for years in sprawling city
camps like Dadaab, Kenya or Zaatari, Jordan.
“Usually it’s really very slow,” said Mary Anne Kenny, a veteran legal
practitioner and expert in Australian migration at Perth’s Murdoch
University.
But Qunun’s savvy use of Twitter throughout her ordeal at Bangkok airport,
including tweeting videos of her barricading herself in a hotel room,
galvanised a global campaign and calls for her to be granted asylum.
Two days — and some 80,000 followers — later she was cheered out of the
airport by a legion of online followers.
– Media focus –
Experts agree the media focus on Qunun’s case has put pressure on
officials in Thailand — which usually have little sympathy for asylum
seekers — to act quickly.
But it may also have increased the risk to Qunun’s safety — making her
resettlement more urgent and strengthening her case for asylum. If she had
made it to Australia, she would have been just one of the thousands of would-
be refugees who turn up at Australian ports, airports and borders who face
lengthy waits, albeit in relative safety.
Sarah Dale, principal solicitor for the Sydney-based Refugee Advice and
Casework Service, which in the last year helped 3,300 refugees, said many of
her clients have waited months and years while the wheels of justice ground
slowly.
Because Qunun turned up in Thailand — which is not a signatory to the UN
convention on refugees — settlement there was not an option, prompting the
UN and other countries to step in.
Her possession of an Australian tourist visa and very public expression of
interest in going to Australia, put pressure on Canberra to take the lead.
Australia is one of the few countries in the world that will resettle
refugees who are already outside their home country, but this is extremely
rare.
Of 20 million people the UN was concerned with in 2017, less than one
percent were resettled that year.
That, says Mary Anne Kenny, is why talk of Qunun “jumping the queue” are
misplaced.
With no queue to speak of, it is more like she will have won the lottery if
resettled.
Still Tamara Wood, a lecturer in forced migration at the University of New
South Wales, said the speed with which her case is being treated appears
quick, but “not unprecedented”
The process is not “ad-hoc” she added, citing provisions for emergency and
urgent refugee visas.
While Australia took around 63 weeks to process refugee visas in 2014-15,
in some rare cases it is done virtually overnight.
“I spend a lot of time critiquing the refugee process,” she said “but this
is one case where it seems to be working.”
– Not done yet –
The process could yet slow as Australia conducts medical, security and
background checks. Acceptance is not automatic.
The authorities will first have to decide whether Qunun’s life, liberty,
safety, health or other human rights are at risk in Thailand.
The Thai authorities’ earlier willingness to return Qunun to Kuwait or
Saudi Arabia could help her meet that standard.
As a Saudi woman who has publicly scorned her family and renounced Islam,
experts says she ticks many boxes.
Depending on the specifics of her case, she could be eligible for a
standard refugee visa, emergency rescue, or perhaps most likely a “Woman at
Risk” visa, which normally requires a UN referral.
If accepted she would have a gateway to Australian citizenship. But the
government could still say no.
According to Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch,
which has lobbied for Qunun to be resettled, that outcome is unlikely.
“It would be a pretty stunning reversal if they didn’t take her,” he said.
“They are so far out on a limb politically.”
“If for any reason it doesn’t work out with Australia, then UNHCR would say
okay we will take the file back and refer it to another country.”
BSS/AFP/RY/1658 hrs