Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, for all intents and purposes, is a refugee. As a young woman from Saudi Arabia, her rights are largely limited to what her male family members permit, and if Alqunun’s assertions are true, she’s the victim of violent, gender-based persecution.
Alqunun, whose fate in Bangkok hangs in the balance after she fled her family during a trip in Kuwait, alleges that her family beats her and once kept her locked up for six months after she got a haircut they disapproved of. Given Saudi laws forbid females from traveling without a male guardian and punish crimes such as parental disobedience and harming the kingdom’s reputation, Alqunun faces a real and imminent risk of death, either at the hands of the Saudi government or of her own family, if Thailand follows through on deporting her back to the country.
