A young Saudi woman who had barricaded herself in a hotel room at a Bangkok airport has left the hotel in the care of the United Nations refugee agency and Thai immigration officials. Thai officials had initially tried to return Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun to Kuwait, where her family is. But the 18-year-old refused to board a flight on Monday, January 7th and barricaded herself into her airport hotel room.
She told authorities she feared her family would kill her as she had renounced Islam.
A Thai immigration officer had told Ms al-Qunun she was denied entry to Thailand because she lacked correct documentation.
Ms al-Qunun then took to Twitter and pleaded for countries to help her, including United States, Canada, Britain and Australia. Her social media account attracted more than 66,000 followers in 48 hours.
Her story caught the attention of the United Nations refugee agency and she has now been allowed to enter Thailand, where she is in the care of UNHCR, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
