Thailand Says It Won't Deport Saudi Woman Fleeing Her Family

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, an 18-year-old Saudi woman who says she is at risk of being killed by her family for forsaking Islam, was fighting deportation from Thailand to Kuwait on Monday in a case that made global headlines.

Rights groups including Human Rights Watch have expressed grave concerns over Mohammed al-Qunun's welfare.

"She has barricaded herself in the room & says she will not leave" until she is allowed to meet the UN refugee agency and claims asylum, Human Rights Watch's deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said on Twitter.

Robertson said Thai lawyers have filed an injunction in Bangkok criminal court "to prevent the deportation of Rahaf to Kuwait", adding: "time is short & she faces dire peril".

Mohammed al-Qunun was on holiday with her family in Kuwait when she fled two days ago. She was trying to head to Australia, where she hoped to seek asylum, via a connecting flight in Bangkok.

She says her passport was seized by a Saudi diplomat who met her coming off the flight at Suvarnabhumi airport on Sunday.

She insists she has a visa for Australia, and never wanted to stay in Thailand.

The Saudi embassy in Bangkok said Mohammed al-Qunun had been held at the airport "because she didn't have a return ticket" and that she is set to be deported to Kuwait "where most of her family lives".

It said Saudi Arabia does not have the authority to hold her at the airport or anywhere else, and that officials are in touch with her father.

She was scheduled to be sent back on Kuwait Airways flight 412 leaving at 11:15 a.m. local time but was reportedly not on the flight.

Qunun said she planned to spend a few days in Thailand, a popular destination for medical treatment, so she would not spark suspicion when she left Kuwait.

Mohammed al-Qunun started attracting attention with her social media posts over the weekend. She has also given friend access to her Twitter account, calling it a contingency in case anything should happen to her.