The UN is asking Australia to consider resettling a Saudi teenager, seeking asylum after fleeing her family.

18-year-old Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun barricaded herself in the transit area of a Bangkok airport after being denied entry into the country on Saturday (January 5).

Claiming her family would kill her, if she was forced to return home.

On Tuesday (January 8), Rahaf was allowed to enter Thailand, and begin seeking asylum in another country through the help of the U.N.

Refugee agency.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR) SPOKESMAN, BABAR BALOCH, SAYING: "UNHCR was provided access to her, currently she is in Bangkok in Thailand at a safe place.

The process to look into her asylum claim has started." Australia said they would consider the move if the UN High Commissioner for Refugees validated Rahaf's case.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN HOME AFFAIRS MINISTER, PETER DUTTON SAYING: "Nobody wants to see a young girl in distress and she has obviously now found a safe haven in Thailand and the United Nations will assess the veracity of the claims and what would happen next.

The teenager drew global support after posting a series of messages on Twitter, saying she "escaped Kuwait" and that she feared being killed if she returned because she had decided to renounce Islam.

In Saudi Arabia, renouncing Islam is a crime punishable by death.

The case is drawing attention to Saudi Arabia's strict social rules at a time when Riyadh is already under the microscope.

After the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year, and the humanitarian consequences of its war in Yemen.