Australian foreign minister in town as runaway seeks asylum

Australian foreign minister in town as runaway seeks asylum

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne talks with Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok on Thursday. (Photo: AFP)
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne talks with Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok on Thursday. (Photo: AFP)

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne was in Bangkok on Thursday on a visit expected to include discussion on the fate of a runaway 18-year-old Saudi woman who alleges her family abused her and she feared for her life.

The Australian government has said it would consider giving her asylum. 

In a statement on Wednesday, Ms Payne said she was visiting Thailand to sign agreements on cyber and digital co-operation, and to “advocate for the safe return to Australia of Mr Hakeem al-Araibi, who is currently detained in Thailand”.

Ms Payne was to meet with Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Prajin Juntong in addition to a bilateral meeting with her counterpart, Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, as part of her first official visit to Thailand as foreign minister.

Mr Araibi is a Bahraini footballer with Australian asylum status who has been jailed in Thailand and faces extradition to Bahrain.

Saudi teen Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun is currently staying in a Bangkok hotel under the care of the United Nation's refugee agency (UNHCR), which has been processing her application for refugee status ahead of possible resettlement in Australia.

She has refused to meet her father and brother, who arrived in Bangkok this week to try to take her back to Saudi Arabia while denying accusations that her family was abusing her physically and emotionally, Thai authorities said.

Ms Qunun was initially denied entry to Thailand when she arrived at the Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport on Saturday, intending to fly from there to Australia to seek asylum.

She was later allowed to enter Bangkok on Monday evening by the Thai authorities after a tense 48 hours that saw her refuse to board a flight to Saudi Arabia and barricade herself inside a transit lounge hotel room, while the world watched the drama unfold on social media.

Ms Payne's visit will also put a spotlight on another refugee case, involving a Bahrain footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, who has refugee status in Australia but was arrested at Bangkok airport last year after arriving on his honeymoon.

He is currently being detained in a Thai prison awaiting the outcome of extradition proceedings to Bahrain where he was previously convicted in his absence and is wanted by authorities.

Ms Payne said in her statement that she will raise his case with the Thai government to find ways for his safe return to Australia.

World football governing body FIFA says Mr Araibi should be freed and allowed to return to Australia where he plays for Melbourne football club Pascoe Vale in the second tier of the Australian League.

Activists have called on Thai authorities to "show humanity" to Mr Araibi in the same way that they have to Ms Qunun.

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