BANGKOK, Jan 10 (TNA) – The father of a Saudi teenager
who fled to Thailand has told Thai police he has never physically abused his
daughter or forced her into arranged marriage.
Rahaf Mohammmed al-Qunun who has fled the family and sought
asylum abroad is now under care of the United Nation’s High Commissioners for
Refugees. After arriving at Bangkok’s
Suvarnabhumi Airport, the 18-year-old was rejected to enter Thailand and
briefly held at the Airport on Sunday.
She was later allowed to meet with UNHCR officials to seek
asylum status citing physical and psychological abuse by her family. Her father and brother arrived in Thailand
but the teenage Saudi refused to meet them.
Thai Immigration Bureau chief Pol Lt-General Surachet
Hakparn said Wednesday that Al-Qunun and UNHCR officials had been in talks with
some undisclosed countries. 
The family wished her to return to Saudi Arabia to see her
ill mother, Pol Lt-General Surachet revealed Thursday after meeting with the
father.
Her father who was a high-level state official said he had
sent a letter objecting his daughter’s asylum request and asked UNHCR officials
to persuade his daughter to return home, Pol Lt-General Surachet said.
The father also explained that his daughter probably felt
uneasy about the family matters because he had 10 children but he had never
physically abused nor forced her to marry anyone, the police officer said,
adding that the father planned to stay in Thailand until everything was
settled.
Pol Lt-General Surachet, who had also talked with Al-Qunan,
said the father’s and daughter’s accounts were considerably conflicting.
“She is in the hands of UNHCR. If her request is rejected, then Thailand
would arrange her return,” he said.
As the UNHCR is believed to have contacted some countries,
her status would be known by Friday, according to Pol Lt-General Surachet.
During the standoff which caught international spotlight,
Al-Qunun expressed fears that she would be killed by her family if she were
sent back to Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne held
talks with Thai officials at Government House in Bangkok on Thursday. She said Canberra still waited for documents
from the UNHCR before considering her request.
Australian officials hinted earlier that the 18-year-old
Saudi woman will be granted asylum.(TNA)
