Saudi girl welcomed in Canada

Rahaf Alqunun. Pic/AFP

The 18-year-old Saudi girl, Rahaf Alqunun, who fled her family from Kuwait to Thailand, has landed in Canada after being granted asylum in the nation. Hailing Alqunun as a "very brave new Canadian", Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland welcomed her at Toronto airport on Sunday, reported Al Jazeera.

Talking to media at the airport, Freel and stated that granted asylum to Alqunun was part of Canada's "policy of supporting women and girls around the world." "It's obvious that the oppression of women is not a problem that can be resolved in a day, but rather than cursing the darkness we believe in lighting a single candle. Where we can save a single woman, a single person that's a good thing to do," Freeland stated.

On Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has stated that Canada had accepted a request from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to grant asylum to Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, who was fleeing her parents and has alleged abuse from family.

The Saudi teenager had boarded a plane to Thailand while her family was on a holiday in Kuwait. Upon arriving in Thailand, she claimed that her passport was taken away by a man at the airport on the pretext of getting her a Thai visa. However, the man did not show up, she said.

Furthermore, the 18-year-old alleged that the man who took away her passport came with other men who she believes were Thai security officers and a representative of Kuwait Airlines.

The men reportedly told Alqunun that her family had filed a missing person report about her and informed her that she had to return to Kuwait on a flight late Monday morning. She had also clarified that she did not run away from home in order to escape her marriage.

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