Saudi teen refugee reveals she contemplated suicide before being granted asylum in Canada

Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, 18, center, stands with Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, right, as she arrives at Toronto Pearson International Airport, on Saturday, Jan.12, 2019.  (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Saudi Arabian teen Rahaf Alqunun has revealed in her first interview since being granted asylum in Canada that she considered committing suicide if she was forced to return to her home country.

"I'm trying to process everything that has happened, because my life was in danger," Alqunun said. "And now I'm in a safe place, I can't believe everything that's happened to me."

After a terrifying ordeal traveling across the world to freedom, Alqunun says she feels like she has been "born again" after being granted safe passage, and plans to use her newfound freedom to advocate for women's rights in Saudi Arabia.

Alqunun barricaded herself in a Bangkok hotel room after fleeing Kuwait during a family trip. She claims her father, a Saudi governor, was threatened to kill her for denouncing Islam (AP)

In her first interview since finding safety in Canada, Alqunun explained further why she felt she had no choice but to flee her home of Saudi Arabia. After escaping during a family visit to Kuwait, she was subsequently detained by Thai police in Bangkok, who threatened to send her back to Saudi Arabia.

"I was expecting them to enter the room and kidnap me," she told Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "That's why I wrote a goodbye letter. I decided that I would end my life, before I was forced back to Saudi Arabia."

Alqunun claims her family threatened to kill her for her departure from their religion. Her father, a Saudi Arabian governor, and the rest of her family released a statement yesterday disowning her and referring to her as "mentally unstable."

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"How could my family disown me simply because I wanted to be independent and escape their abuse?" Alqunun said.

"I wanted to be free from oppression and depression. I wanted to be independent,"  the 18-year-old continued. "I wouldn't have been able to marry the person I wanted. I couldn't get a job without permission."

Alqunun hopes her story will inspire more women to seek their own freedom, and that it will encourage Saudi lawmakers to consider granting women more autonomy  (AP)

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Saudi women are dominated by guardianship laws, which require them to have the consent of a male guardian in order to fulfill basic needs such as securing a passport, undergoing some medical procedures, or conducting any official business matters.

"The Saudi administration controls a woman's life - her job and position," Alqunun said. "Women are treated like children even if they are 50 or 60 years old."

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Rising resistance from feminists in Saudi Arabia was met with a harsh crackdown in May of 2018, in which many leading women in the movement were rounded up and allegedly tortured and assaulted by officials.

Alqunun hopes that her story, and the lengths she was willing to go to avoid the restraints of Saudi law, will inspire others to do the same. Although she says her heart goes out to many refugees whose asylum applications are not processed as quickly as hers was, she believes many women in Saudi Arabia will follow her lead and seek their own freedom.

"This might be the agent for change," she said.