Australia considers refugee status for Saudi woman fleeing family

A Saudi woman who fled her family and refused to leave a Bangkok hotel has been declared a legitimate refugee by the UN, the Australian government says.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, refused to board a flight from Bangkok to Kuwait on Monday and barricaded herself into her airport hotel room.

She said she feared her family would kill her for renouncing Islam.

She soon started posting messages on Twitter from the transit area of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport saying she had “escaped Kuwait” and her life would be in danger if forced to return to Saudi Arabia.

Within hours, a campaign sprung up on Twitter, spread by a loose network of activists around the world.

Within 36 hours it prompted Thailand’s government to reverse a decision to force the young woman onto a plane that would return her to her family.

She was allowed to enter Thailand and on Tuesday began the process of seeking asylum in a third country through the U.N. refugee agency.

In a brief statement, Australia's Department of Home Affairs said it would "consider this referral in the usual way".

"The government will be making no further comment on this matter," it said.

The UNHCR office in Thailand also declined to comment.

Mohammed al-Qunun's father and brother have arrived in Thailand but she is refusing to see them.

Officials in Australia have hinted that her request will be accepted.

Renunciation of Islam is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. Mohammed al-Qunun's father is the governor of al-Sulaimi, a town in the northern Saudi province of Hail.

Campaign groups have expressed grave concerns for Mohammed al-Qunun.

On Tuesday morning she retweeted her original appeal for asylum, pleading for the UK, Canada, the US or Australia to take her in.

A Saudi diplomat had reportedly seized her passport when she flew into Thailand from Kuwait on Saturday, planning to travel to Australia. On Tuesday she said it had been returned.