Canada Grants Refugee Status to Saudi Teen

Woman had barricaded herself in a hotel room and posted about her situation on Twitter

Kim Mackrael and

James Hookway

Updated Jan. 11, 2019 6:28 p.m. ET

OTTAWA—Canada will grant refugee status to a young Saudi woman who renounced Islam and barricaded herself in a Bangkok airport hotel to avoid being deported, a decision that threatens to heighten tensions between Ottawa and Riyadh.

Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, who is 18 years old, attracted international attention this week after she posted on Twitter that Saudi officials at a Bangkok airport had seized her passport. Ms. Alqunun arrived in Bangkok on Jan. 5 after slipping away from her family during a vacation in Kuwait.

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