Saudi refugee heads to Canada

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Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun on Friday in Bangkok Associated Press/Photo by Sakchai Lalit

A Saudi woman who fled her family has departed Thailand for Canada after she received asylum, a Thai official said Friday. Immigration police chief Maj. Gen. Surachate Hakparn said 18-year-old Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun boarded a flight in Bangkok on Friday and was headed to Toronto by way of Seoul, South Korea.

The Canadian Foreign Ministry has not confirmed Alqunun received asylum. Several countries, including Canada and Australia, were in talks with the United Nations refugee agency to accept the woman after she was granted refugee status. She arrived in Bangkok on Saturday from Kuwait and refused to board a return flight, saying she faced abuse back home and feared her family would kill her for renouncing Islam.

Onize Ohikere

Onize is WORLD’s Africa reporter and deputy global desk chief. She is a World Journalism Institute graduate and earned a journalism degree from Minnesota State University–Moorhead. Onize resides in Abuja, Nigeria.

@onize_ohiks