An 18-year-old Saudi woman who fled her family saying she feared for her life left Thailand on Friday en route to Canada, the Thai immigration chief said.
The saga of Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun grabbed international attention this week after she barricaded herself in a Bangkok airport hotel room to resist being sent home to her family, which denies any abuse.
A Korean Air flight carrying Qunun left Bangkok for Seoul on Friday night at 11:37 p.m. Bangkok time, an airport official said. Ms. Qunun will board a connecting flight to Toronto from Seoul’s Incheon airport.
“It was her wish to go to Canada,” Thailand’s immigration chief Surachate Hakparn told reporters. “She still refuses to meet with her father and brother, and they are going to be travelling back tonight as well... They are disappointed.”
Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has confirmed that asylum had been granted to Ms. Qunun. “When the United Nations made a request of us that we grant Miss (Rahaf Mohammed) al-Qunun's asylum, we accepted,” he said.