A Saudi Arabian teenager has had to run for her life after her family threatened to murder her for not wanting to practice Islam.
The teenager has been given asylum in Canada and is now safe, The Daily Mail reported.
The Saudi 18-year-old girl who fled her family fearing they would kill her after she rejected Islam has arrived in Toronto.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun garnered support around the world this week as people learned how she had barricaded herself in a Bangkok airport hotel room to resist being sent home to her family.
Her family deny any abuse, but Ms al-Qunun refused to meet her father and brother who arrived in Thailand to try and fetch the teen.
Instead, she took a Korean Air flight from Bangkok to Seoul on Friday and then a connecting flight to Toronto.
Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland greeted al-Qunun, after she landed in Toronto, wearing a blue ball cap and a gray hoodie emblazoned in red with the word ‘CANADA.’
Ms Freeland told reporters with her arm around the teen: ‘This is Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun a very brave new Canadian.’
Should she have been given asylum?
Ms al-Qunun Tweeted pictures during her flight in First Class drinking claret, chardonnay and eating caviar.
Her case was expedited after it garnered an unprecedented amount of media attention.
She highlighted her homeland’s strict social rules, including a requirement that women have the permission of a male chaperone to travel, which rights groups say can trap women and girls as prisoners of abusive families.
‘Canada has been unequivocal that we’ll stand up for human rights and women’s rights around the world,’ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
‘When the United Nations made a request of us that we grant Ms al-Qunun’s asylum, we accepted.’
Canada’s ambassador saw her off at the airport, Thai Police Major General Surachate Hakparn said, adding that she looked happy and healthy. ‘She chose Canada. It’s her personal decision,’ he said.
First moments of @rahaf84427714 ‘s new life in her new home with Foreign Affairs Minister @cafreeland . Welcome to Canada! pic.twitter.com/nXLcax3uzi
— Omar Sachedina (@omarsachedina) January 12, 2019
At Toronto Airport with a few friends and flowers to welcome Saudi rebel @Rahaf84427714 to Canada, but I hear Minister @HonAhmedHussen wants to hog all the publicity and won’t let her meet her friends and ‘family’. Stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed. #FreeRahaf #cndpoli pic.twitter.com/RNwqsXLTd7
— Tarek Fatah (@TarekFatah) January 12, 2019
One of the ways the world found out about Rahaf @rahaf84427714 al-Qunun’s story was through the tireless efforts of Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch in Bangkok. @Reaproy says Canada was on the front lines to make sure Rahaf found safety. #RahafSaved #SaveRahaf pic.twitter.com/7w4fTy78bs
— Natasha Fatah🏹 (@NatashaFatah) January 12, 2019
BREAKING: Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, the Saudi teen who was granted asylum in Canada after fleeing from her allegedly abusive family, has arrived in Toronto. https://t.co/o7KgEDfq0t pic.twitter.com/V0DUVf3UkN
— CBC News (@CBCNews) January 12, 2019
One great way we can welcome @rahaf84427714 here is by pledging that we’ll never let Canada turn into the sort of place she’s fleeing.
— Anthony Furey (@anthonyfurey) January 12, 2019
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