New Zealand's Ardern kicks off election campaign after taming virus

Yahoo – AFP, MICHAEL BRADLEY, August 8, 2020

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is riding high in opinion polls after
her leadership through the Christchurch mosque attacks, the White Island volcanic
eruption and the coronavirus pandemic

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern kicked off her Labour Party's election campaign Saturday riding high in the opinion polls after a successful response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Ardern's popularity as preferred prime minister -- often referred to as "Jacindamania" -- topped 60 percent in the latest surveys following her leadership through the Christchurch mosque attacks, the White Island volcanic eruption and the pandemic.

Before the virus forced New Zealand to seal its borders, the polls had pointed to a cliffhanger election on September 19, but support swung sharply towards the centre-left Labour Party as the country eliminated community transmission in a matter on months.

In a country of five million people, New Zealand has had only 22 COVID-19 deaths and it has been 99 days since the last recorded case of infection from an unknown source.

"When people ask, is this a COVID election, my answer is yes, it is," the charismatic 40-year-old said as she launched the campaign with a NZ$311 million (US$205 million) pledge to boost jobs.

"Businesses large and small are crucial to our economic recovery."

Labour is the senior partner in a three-party coalition government but if it can maintain the support shown in recent opinion polls, where it has consistently been above 50 percent, it could govern alone after the election.

Ardern was an unheralded MP when thrust into the Labour leadership shortly before the 2017 election when the party was struggling and "there were plenty who thought it couldn't (win)," she said.

"If you had told me then that our launch in 2020 would be in the midst of a global pandemic with our borders closed –- I would have found that very hard to fathom."

The centrepiece of Labour's campaign is to support businesses in hiring at least 40,000 people whose employment has been affected by the coronavirus.

It pledged to expand existing job schemes to help employers hire staff at risk of long-term unemployment.

It will also help out-of-work New Zealanders start a business through an expanded self-employment programme which will provide the equivalent of the minimum wage for up to 30-hours a week.

"The new flexi-wage scheme is a key plank of our economic plan to support businesses to recover and to provide jobs to those who have lost work due to COVID," Ardern said.

"Our team-of-five-million approach to fighting COVID means there is huge willingness in our business community to avoid unemployment rising by retaining staff and taking on new employees where they can, but many just need a little bit of extra support to do that, which this package provides."

Aung San Suu Kyi to lead Myanmar defence against ICJ case

Yahoo – AFP, November 20, 2019

Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi will personally lead a team to
The Hague, her office said (AFP Photo/Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)

Myanmar's civilian leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi will head up a delegation to the UN’s top court to defend a case accusing the mainly Buddhist country of genocide against Rohingya Muslims, the government said Wednesday, a decision that blind-sided observers.

West African nation Gambia is due to open its case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December on behalf of the 57 member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

The complaint accuses Myanmar of breaching the 1948 UN Genocide Convention through its brutal military campaign in 2017, which targeted the Rohingya minority in Rakhine state.

In the opening hearings, the small, majority-Muslim African country is expected to ask the court to make an emergency injunction to protect the Rohingya, pending a decision on whether to deal with the wider case.

But Suu Kyi will personally lead a team to The Hague to "defend the national interest of Myanmar," her office said.

Myanmar has also retained prominent international lawyers, it added.

The country has repeatedly justified the crackdown on the Rohingya as necessary to stamp out militants and insists its own committees are adequate to investigate allegations of abuse.

Some 740,000 Rohingya were forced to flee into sprawling camps in Bangladesh after the brutal 2017 military crackdown, in violence that United Nations investigators concluded amounted to genocide.

'Never ever surrender'

The case will be the first international legal attempt to bring Myanmar to justice over the Rohingya crisis, and is a rare example of a country suing another over an issue to which it is not directly a party.

The ICJ was set up in 1946 after World War II to adjudicate in disputes between UN member states.

Myanmar's 2017 military campaign targeted the Rohingya minority (AFP Photo/

Ye Aung THU)

Gambia's effort is one of several legal challenges mounting against Myanmar.

The International Criminal Court -- another Hague-based court set up in 2002 to probe war crimes -- last week authorised its chief prosecutor to launch a full investigation into the persecution of the Rohingya.

Myanmar has not signed up to the ICC and therefore rejects its authority.

But the probe says it can be held responsible for crimes that affect neighbouring Bangladesh, which has signed up to the court.

Rights groups have meanwhile filed a separate lawsuit over the Rohingya in Argentina in which Myanmar's former democracy icon Sun Kyi was personally named.

This is under "universal jurisdiction", a legal principle which holds that some crimes are so horrific, they can be tried anywhere.

Independent Yangon-based analyst David Mathieson said the decision for Suu Kyi to lead the defence team personally was certainly a shock but he thought it "could potentially be positive".

"(She) should use the trip to absorb this information, not just denounce accountability measures as undue pressure on Myanmar," he said.

The former rights champion, widely condemned in the West for failing to stand up for the Rohingya, still enjoys overwhelming support at home where many buy the official line that the Rohingya are illegal immigrants.

Wednesday’s announcement is also likely to further rally people to her side as the country heads into an election next year.

As the news spread, outpourings of praise were posted on Facebook.

"Bravo!" congratulated Mg Khin. "She (Suu Kyi) will never ever surrender."

Transgender councillor elected in Bangladesh first

Yahoo – AFP, October 15, 2019

Pinki Khatun, centre in the front row, beat her nearest rival by more than 4,000
votes to be elected Bangladesh's first transgender councillor (AFP Photo/STR)

A transgender candidate has been elected as councillor for a rural Bangladeshi town, the first in the ultra-conservative Muslim-majority nation where laws still discriminate against sexual minorities.

Pinki Khatun was elected as vice chair of a town council in the country's west on Monday after beating her nearest rival by more than 4,000 votes, local police chief Mahbubul Alam said.

"I am very delighted. I campaigned door-to-door and people have responded positively," the garment shop owner told AFP.

"I did not face any discrimination or hate campaigns."

Bangladesh has allowed transgenders, known as hijra -- an umbrella term referring to someone who is born male but does not refer to themselves as a man or woman -- to identify as a separate gender since 2013.

This year, they were allowed to register to vote identifying as this gender.

The 37-year-old councillor is a youth wing official of the ruling Awami League and campaigned as an independent candidate in the 200,000-population town of Kotchandpur after the party did not back anyone.

"My aim is to work for the betterment of women and protect their rights," said the councillor, who previously identified as a woman.

"I'll work for hijras so they can live honourably in society."

The government says there are some 10,000 hijras in Bangladesh but independent estimates say they could number up to 500,000, with many hiding their identity to avoid discrimination.

Bangladesh still has a British colonial-era law where anyone who engages in gay sex faces life in prison, although the legislation is rarely used.

The LGBT community also faces social discrimination.

Transgender rights activist Anonnya Banik said the election of the country's first transgender politician was a "big achievement".

"It will create positive impact in the society and inspire other trans-people. I think it reflects change in Bangladesh people's attitude towards trans-people," Banik told AFP.

Modi plots course after landslide Indian election win

Yahoo – AFP, Simon Sturdee and Abhaya Srivastava, May 24, 2019

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures during his victory speech at the
BJP headquarters in New Delhi (AFP Photo/PRAKASH SINGH)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met allies and former mentors Friday to plot a course for his second term after a landslide victory left the once-mighty Gandhi dynasty reeling.

A considerable to-do list includes addressing India's lacklustre economic growth and reducing unemployment, as well as fixing a stricken agriculture sector on which 70 percent of households depend.

Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 303 seats, its best ever score, giving it an even bigger majority than five years ago and defying predictions of a dip, final results confirmed Friday.

The main opposition Congress party, which has ruled the roost in India for much of its post-independence history, improved on its historic low five years ago of 44 seats but still only managed a paltry 52.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi even lost his own seat in Amethi, long a family bastion. He did win a seat in the southern state of Kerala, however, a quirk allowed under Indian election rules.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, meanwhile, joined a chorus of international well-wishers, with US President Donald Trump hailing Modi's "BIG" win and even Pakistan's Imran Khan tweeting congratulations.

On Thursday there were delirious scenes at BJP party offices across the nation of 1.3 billion people, including its headquarters where Modi, 68, was showered with petals by chanting fans.

"The voting numbers in India's election is the biggest event in the history of (the) democratic world. The entire world has to recognise the democratic strength of India," Modi told cheering crowds.

"Modi will make India great again. Modi is the strongest prime minister India has ever had and will get. We need to support his policies to prosper," said one supporter, Santosh Joshi.

On Friday, ahead of a cabinet meeting, Modi conferred with two now-sidelined former mentors, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, touching their feet in sign of respect.

'Can Modi deliver?'

With the election behind him, Modi must now tackle the economy and unemployment -- notably among women, who have one of the lowest labour market participation rates in the world.

The Congress Party under Rahul Gandhi suffered a major rout at the polls
(AFP Photo/SAJJAD HUSSAIN)

"The real question is can Modi deliver on his economic commitments -- for example creating the high number of jobs needed?" said Champa Patel, of the Chatham House think-tank.

"This is essential to address India's growing wealth inequalities. Can he address the challenges that millions of Indians face on a daily basis in a highly stratified country?"

India's agriculture industry is also in a dire state with drought, low prices and debt driving thousands of farmers to suicide in recent years.

The country's waterways are filthy and India is home to 22 of the world's 30 most polluted cities, killing 1.24 million people early in 2017 according to a Lancet Planetary Health study.

On Friday, around 80 to 100 people held a demonstration in Delhi as part of a global day of climate change to demand Modi does more on the environment, .

"We are here to fight for our right to breathe clean air," said Ishika Goyal, 16.

Modi and the Hindu nationalist BJP must also try to heal divisions which have left religious minorities -- including India's 170 million Muslims -- feeling anxious for the future.

During the campaign he managed to deflect criticism on these issues by focusing on national security, claiming he alone could defend India.

Congress meanwhile was picking up the pieces after the second election debacle in a row, having failed to win a single seat in 13 states and five union territories.

These included Rajasthan where it won state elections late last year. This time the BJP swept all 25 seats, and in Uttar Pradesh Congress took just one constituency.

An anti-Modi alliance in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state with 200 million people, also failed to prevent the BJP juggernaut sweeping 64 out of 80 seats.

Even in West Bengal, run by formidable Modi critic Mamata Banerjee, the BJP made major inroads, boosting its seat tally from two to 18.

Congress on Friday was forced to deny media reports that Gandhi -- the great-grandson, grandson and son of three former premiers -- had offered to throw in the towel.

"The Congress leadership has clearly failed. It is a discredited and bankrupt leadership," Kanchan Gupta from the Observer Research Foundation think-tank told AFP.

"It is astonishing that Rahul Gandhi has not yet resigned", Ramachandra Guha, a renowned historian, said on Twitter. "The Congress should dump the Dynasty."

Money, money, money: the tycoon factor in India's election

Yahoo – AFP, Peter HUTCHISON, April 14, 2019

Message in a bottle ... artist Basavaraj poses with a creation showing Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and his election rival Rahul Gandhi (AFP Photo/
MANJUNATH KIRAN)

India's tycoons are playing a pivotal role in the Asian giant's most expensive election ever, from funding campaigns and tacit endorsements to being hot-button issues themselves.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's re-election bid has received huge financial backing from corporate India, raising fears about the integrity of the world's largest democratic process, experts say.

Meanwhile, Congress party opponent Rahul Gandhi is trying to exploit a fighter jet deal involving industrialist Anil Ambani while fugitive tycoons Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi loom over the vote from London.

Contesting polls is getting costlier in India and analysts say parties are becoming more reliant on donations from anonymous businessmen, leading to a lack of transparency and worrying conflicts of interest.

"There's a trend towards plutocracy," Niranjan Sahoo, of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) think-tank, told AFP. "Unbridled corporate influence can have a serious impact on policies," he added.

The New Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies estimates that around $5 billion was spent during the 2014 election that swept Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power -- up from $2 billion in 2009.

The group thinks the 2019 contest could top $7 billion, making it one of the priciest elections globally.

"Elections are getting more expensive for many structural reasons," Milan Vaishnav, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think-tank, told AFP.

"(There is a) growing population, increasing political competition, voter expectations of handouts in the form of cash and other inducements, and technological change, which means greater outlays for media and digital outreach," he added.

Analysts say traditional funding streams, such as party memberships, are declining so parties increasingly rely on wealthy donors to fund campaigns.

Data compiled by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an election watchdog, showed that in financial year 2017-18 corporates and individuals contributed 12 times more to the BJP than to six other national parties, including Congress, combined.

'Quid pro quo'

The BJP received 93 percent of all donations above 20,000 rupees ($290) that year, according to ADR'S analysis. Modi's BJP banked 4.37 billion rupees ($63.3 million); Congress got just 267 million rupees.

Factfile on India, where 900 million eligible voters will get the opportunity
to vote in the 2019 general election from April 11 to May 19. (AFP Photo)

"There is a huge funding disparity now. Congress simply doesn't have the money to fight elections. That should worry people," said the ORF's Sahoo.

Modi's government says it has cracked down on so-called "black money" in politics by lowering the amount that can be donated in cash from 20,000 rupees to 2,000 rupees.

Critics, however, say it is now easier for wealthy entities to donate to political parties; corporate funding formed 92 percent of the total donations declared by the BJP in 2017-18, according to ADR.

Detractors point to the government removing a cap on corporate donations two years ago and introducing a scheme whereby donors can give anonymously through "electoral bonds" purchased from a bank.

On Friday India's supreme court ordered parties to reveal the identity of donors after activists challenged the bond system, which the government has defended.

"The lack of transparency allows conflicts of interest and quid pro quos to flourish", said Vaishnav, who suspects that medium-sized businesses requiring permits from the government are more of an issue than India's big oligarchs.

Tycoons do not explicitly endorse candidates for fear of backing the wrong horse but Modi, 68, is seen to be close to several big tycoons.

In 2014 he travelled between rallies in a corporate jet and helicopter owned by billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani, while magnate Ratan Tata praised Modi for carrying out air strikes in Pakistan.

India's richest man Mukesh Ambani -- whose personal net worth has soared from $18.6 billion when Modi came to power to $53 billion today, according to Forbes -- has repeatedly called him "our beloved prime minister" in speeches.

'He's not the messiah...'

"If you look at the measure that counts, which is how much money do these guys have, then India's tycoons have done tremendously well under Modi," James Crabtree, author of "The Billionaire Raj", told AFP.

Ambani's oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance Industries and the Adani Group did not respond to requests for comment.

Gandhi, 48, is trying to score political points by accusing Modi and Anil Ambani, Mukesh's younger brother, of dodgy dealings related to the purchase of Rafale jets from France –- allegations both deny.

Congress's leader is also using liquor-baron Mallya and jeweller Nirav Modi to attack the BJP. The government accuses them of massive fraud and is trying to extradite them from Britain.

Modi pledged to crack down on crony capitalism during his tenure so the duo represent a sore point for a man who prides himself on being India's "chowkidar" ("watchman").

"Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi have become the symbols of a job half done. Nonetheless the noose is tightening on these guys," said Crabtree.

India's business community appears less enthusiastic about Modi this time round after a shock cancellation of high-value banknotes and poorly implemented new tax disrupted economic growth.

But they are set to vote for him overwhelmingly anyway, fearing that a coalition or Gandhi victory could put a halt to much-needed economic reforms.

"He's not the messiah we thought he was but without doubt almost everybody wants Modi to come back with an absolute majority," said a prominent Mumbai-based businessman who asked not to be named.

"Because beyond him there is no alternative," he added.

Former Maldives president makes comeback with landslide win

Yahoo – AFP, April 7, 2019

Former president Mohamed Nasheed is set to return to power after his MDP
party headed for a two-thirds majority (AFP Photo/Ahmed SHURAU)

The exiled former leader of the Maldives has led his party to a landslide victory only five months after returning to the country, preliminary results showed Sunday.

Ex-president Mohamed Nasheed, 51, was set for a dramatic return to the top of the national parliament, with his Maldivian Democratic Party headed for a two-thirds majority in the 87-member assembly.

Saturday's poll was the first test of public opinion since autocratic former president and Nasheed's arch-rival Abdulla Yameen was forced to stand down after his five-year term, facing charges of money laundering and embezzlement.

Nasheed returned to the country after his former deputy President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won an unexpected victory in September presidential elections for the MDP. Yameen had barred Nasheed from contesting.

Preliminary results from Saturday's election showed the MDP winning 50 out of the 87 seats, while private media reports projected the party eventually getting up to 68 seats.

"The Maldives is about to welcome a new dawn, a golden yellow dawn,” Nasheed told his supporters in Male on Saturday. Yellow is the colour of his party.

Election officials estimated the final turnout to be between 70 and 80 percent, down from the 89 percent recorded at the September presidential election which unexpectedly toppled Yameen.

Nasheed, now set to take over the leadership of the legislature, has promised to turn the country into a parliamentary democracy by scrapping the executive presidential system adopted under political reforms in 2008.

President Solih said in a statement that the MDP had "secured a huge majority in Majlis (parliament)".

"While we celebrate, we must also not forget the immense challenges that lie ahead of us," he said.

Solih campaigned for the MDP asking voters to return a parliament that could work with him to deliver on his election promises in September to investigate corruption under Yameen.

While Yameen was not a candidate, his Progressive Party of Maldives was seen as the main challenger to the MDP -- but ended up with a poor showing, and is projected to get only four seats.

Nasheed was jailed for 13 years on a controversial terrorism charge when Yameen was in power. However, the conviction was overturned last year after the presidency changed.

Election commissioner Ahmed Shareef told reporters there had been no complaints of irregularities in the runup to the vote, during balloting or at the count.

The Maldives was on the verge of being slapped with Western-led sanctions before Solih won the presidential election on a pledge to end corruption in the country best known for its luxury tourism.

Pakistan announces 'massive' social media crackdown

Yahoo – AFP, 13 February 2019

On Tuesday an opinion piece in the International New York Times criticising
Pakistan's powerful army was censored and replaced by a blank space

Pakistani authorities Wednesday vowed to carry out a "massive" crackdown targeting hate speech and extremism on social media, as a minister boasted arrests have already been made.

Officials in Pakistan are frequently accused of muzzling the media and targeting individuals critical of the country’s powerful military establishment and have blocked hundreds of websites and social media accounts over the years.

Information minister Fawad Chaudhry announced the government was setting up a new enforcement arm to regulate social media during a speech in the capital Islamabad.

"We made some arrests last week and by the will of Allah we are launching a massive crackdown against social media users spreading hate speech and violence," he said.

Self censorship in the South Asia nation is widely believed to be rife at traditional news outlets.

"Our problem is that digital media is over taking formal media so it is important for us to regulate this," Chaudhry added, saying: "Informal media is a greater problem than formal media.”

The announcement comes days after authorities arrested a journalist for allegedly posting defamatory content on social media.

And on Tuesday an opinion piece in the International New York Times criticising Pakistan's powerful army was censored by its local publisher and replaced by a blank space.

Activists and bloggers frequently report receiving warnings from Facebook and Twitter for posting unlawful content.

Local media also complained about pressure in the run-up to a general election in July to self-censor in favour of the eventual victor, cricketer-turned-prime-minister Imran Khan.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said the army had "quietly but effectively, set restrictions on reporting" in a report released September last year.

Thai King lambasts 'highly inappropriate' move to make princess PM

Yahoo – AFP, Sippachai KUNNUWONG, Aidan JONES, February 8, 2019

A party official holds a registration document bearing the image of Thai Princess
Ubolratana, who will run for PM (AFP Photo/Krit Phromsakla Na SAKOLNAKORN)

Bangkok (AFP) - Thailand's powerful King Maha Vajiralongkorn late Friday described an unprecedented move to make his older sister Princess Ubolratana prime minister as "highly inappropriate" and against "royal traditions".

Ubolratana, 67, the older sister of Vajiralongkorn, was announced hours earlier as a candidate in the upcoming elections for the Thai Raksa Chart party, which is steered by the divisive Shinawatra political clan.

Her shock entrance into frontline Thai politics was a first by a member of the powerful royal family and promised to reshape the political landscape of the country.

But a late-night statement from the palace left no doubt over the King's displeasure at the move.

"The king and royal family exist in a status above politics," said the statement, published in the Royal Gazette and given blanket television coverage.

The statement did not criticise Ubolratana, instead praising her public work.

But it appeared aimed at those behind her sudden stride into politics.

"To bring a senior royal family member into the political system in any way is against royal traditions and the nation's culture... which is highly inappropriate."

While the monarchy, which is vastly wealthy and protected from criticism by a harsh royal defamation law, has been seen as above the political fray, royals have intervened in moments of political crisis.

In a day of high drama, junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha also declared his candidacy for premier, running for the pro-military Phalang Pracharat party, moments after the princess's announcement.

Election authorities have a week to review which candidates put up by each party are allowed to run for premier after the March 24 poll.

Graphic looking at the two main candidates who will face 

off against each other in Thailand's upcoming general 

election. (AFP Photo/John SAEKI)

Political drama

Ubolratana's candidacy had electrified the build-up to the election, which has long seemed poised to return the ruling junta and its proxies to power.

Her involvement gave a royal sheen to the political machine of Thaksin Shinawatra, the self-exiled billionaire whose parties have won every election since 2001.

The princess, who gave up her royal titles to marry a foreigner, took to Instagram earlier Friday to say she was allowed to run under the constitution as a "commoner" had "allowed Thai Raksa Chart Party to use" her name.

The party falls under the tutelage of Thaksin, who stands at the heart of Thailand's bitter political schism -- loathed by the army and Bangkok elite, yet adored by the rural poor for health, welfare and education schemes.

The announcement appeared set to thrust him back onto the centre stage of Thailand's political drama.

He was toppled in a 2006 coup, while his sister Yingluck was booted from power in a 2014 military takeover and forced into exile to avoid a jail term.

The King's intervention has cast Thaksin's future role in politics into doubt.

Colourful royal

Ubolratana, a colourful, public-facing royal in contrast to her more restrained brother King Maha Vajiralongkorn, relinquished her royal titles after marrying the American Peter Jensen in 1972.

Thai Princess Ubolratana's decision to run for prime minister has shaken

up Thai politics (AFP Photo/Martin BUREAU)

But the couple divorced and she moved back to Thailand where she is still considered part of the royal family.

In Thailand, she experienced tragedy, losing her autistic son Poom to the 2004 Asian tsunami.

Known to the public for lead roles in Thai films, onstage singing performances, a vibrant fashion sense and a sizeable Instagram following, Ubolratana is the first-born child of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The stride into politics by a royal left Thais scrambling to work out what it may mean for the nation's tattered democracy.

"This is quite unprecedented and nobody is prepared for this," Professor Anusorn Unno of Thammasat University told AFP.

"I don't think it's the victory for the people, I think this is part of the adaptation of the ruling elite in terms of changing the landscape of politics."

Since ascending the throne in 2016, King Maha Vajiralongkorn has reorganised palace affairs.

The vastly wealthy Crown Property Bureau is now under his personal stewardship, he has appointed several new privy counsellors and established a highly trained personal guard.

Crucially he has appointed a new army chief from a different faction of the military to the ruling junta.

His coronation will be held in May.

VIDEO: A Thai princess will stand as a candidate for prime minister in upcoming elections for a party run by the divisive Shinawatra political clan, a stunning twist that pits a royal directly against the chief of the ruling junta who had hoped to maintained his grip on politics pic.twitter.com/zfoNzZFIQi

— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 8, 2019

Related Article:

#UPDATE A Thai political party will obey a command from the king blocking the candidacy of a princess for prime minister, in a dramatic reversal only a day after putting her forward for the position https://t.co/UsubsUmM2P pic.twitter.com/5M2eRyV0E9

— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 9, 2019

Saudi woman held at Bangkok airport says fears death if repatriated

Yahoo – AFP, 6 January 2019

Rahaf told AFP she was stopped by Saudi and Kuwaiti officials when she
arrived in Suvarnabhumi airport

A Saudi woman held at Bangkok airport said she would be killed if she was repatriated by Thai immigration officials, who confirmed the 18-year-old was denied entry to the country Sunday.

Rahaf Mohammed M Alqunun told AFP she was stopped by Saudi and Kuwaiti officials when she arrived in Suvarnabhumi airport and her travel document was forcibly taken from her, a claim backed by Human Rights Watch.

"They took my passport," she told AFP, adding that her male guardian had reported her for traveling "without his permission".

Rahaf said she was trying to flee her family, who subjected her to physical and psychological abuse.

"My family is strict and locked me in a room for six months just for cutting my hair," she said, adding that she is certain she will be imprisoned if she is sent back.

"I'm sure 100 percent they will kill me as soon as I get out of the Saudi jail," she said, adding that she was "scared" and "losing hope".

Rahaf was stopped from entering Thailand when she flew in from Kuwait on Sunday, Thailand's immigration chief Surachate Hakparn told AFP.

"She had no further documents such as return ticket or money," he said, adding that Rahaf was currently in an airport hotel.

"She ran away from her family to avoid marriage and she is concerned she may be in trouble returning to Saudi Arabia. We sent officials to take care of her now," he said.

He added that Thai authorities had contacted the "Saudi Arabia embassy to coordinate".

But Rahaf disputed his account, saying that she was in transit to seek asylum in Australia, where she claimed to have a visa, and was accosted by Saudi and Kuwaiti embassy representatives when she deplaned in Suvarnabhumi airport.

Human Rights Watch Asia deputy director Phil Robertson decried the actions of the Thai authorities.

"What country allows diplomats to wander around the closed section of the airport and seize the passports of the passengers?" he said, adding that there is "impunity" within the family unit in Saudi Arabia to abuse women.

Immigration head Surachate said Rahaf would be sent back to Saudi Arabia by Monday morning.

"It's a family problem," he said of the case.

Another Saudi woman, Dina Ali Lasloom, was stopped in transit in the Philippines in April 2017 when she attempted to flee her family.

An airline security official told activists that Lasloom was heard "screaming and begging for help" as men carried her "with duct tape on her mouth, feet and hands" at the airport.

The Saudi embassy in Thailand and officials in Riyadh could not be reached for immediate comment.

#UPDATE A young Saudi woman who caused an international sensation as she sought asylum abroad while in Bangkok arrived in Toronto Saturday where she was welcomed with open arms https://t.co/1sL4emOLmJ #RahafMohammed pic.twitter.com/oSu0JYXCDL

— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 12, 2019

#UPDATE 18-year-old Saudi woman who fled family seeking asylum in Australia will fly to Canada late Friday, head of Thai immigration police says, in a surprise twist to a saga partly played out over Twitter https://t.co/Hr8l97FhhD #RahafMohammed

— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 11, 2019

#UPDATE Saudi woman Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun who made a desperate plea for asylum after landing at Bangkok airport has been placed "under the care" of the United Nations refugee agency, a Thai official says https://t.co/ECCEvCkVvr #RahafMohammedalQunun

— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 7, 2019

AFP factfile on what we know so far about the 18-year-old Saudi woman Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, who was detained at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok after running away from her family. She is now being helped by the UNHCR pic.twitter.com/SfU7JXZPlh

— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 8, 2019

A military junta has ruled Thailand since 2014, and with rumors that an election could be delayed again, protesters say enough is enoughhttps://t.co/z51Yalkuyw pic.twitter.com/tAJ2Ww6dUA

— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 6, 2019