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Today we're going to be talking about an 18-year-old
from Saudi Arabia who has been granted asylum in Canada.
Tell me why this story has gained such buzz.
Susan Ormiston: Her name is Rahaf Mohammed,
and she was trying to get out of Saudi Arabia.
But at a stopover in Bangkok, Thai officials seized
her passport detaining her in a hotel.
I want asylum.
With you.
Terrified she would be forced back,
she turned to social media.
She told us that her mother and her brother
were beating her for not conforming.
She said that things like if she were to cut her hair
she was locked up in her room for six months by her brother.
And she felt when she turned 18, she made a decision that,
I got to get out of here.
She, with her family, went on a vacation to Kuwait
and she slipped away one morning,
and took a plane to Bangkok, and in Bangkok they caught her.
And she decided she had no recourse
except to turn to social media.
I'm not leaving my room until I see UNHCR.
The UNHCR, which is in charge of refugees across the world,
they stepped in in Bangkok,
and they decided to investigate
whether she qualified as a refugee.
So whether she was being persecuted for things
like religion, or gender in her country,
and whether she was in grave danger.
And they determined that-- yes to both of those questions.
A lot of people are saying that she was accepted
for political reasons to Canada.
What can you speak about on this.
Well I can reference what the foreign minister
has told the country.
Chrystia Freeland, I met her at the airport.
What Chrystia Freeland said at that time was
that her government is-- has the intention to help women
who are facing persecution.
And this was an example of that.
Canada is a country that understands how important
it is to stand up for human rights,
to stand up for women's rights around the world.
It doesn't mean that this wasn't political,
and many former diplomats even have said this was too much.
They were using a refugee in order to score political points.
That debate is out there.
Those are the two responses to it.
How do we know that what she's saying is true
and that she really was abused?
Well, it's difficult to verify
because we can't get access to her family.
Has her family said anything at all?
Do they know anything?
Yes. Her family sent a statement out publicly a few days ago,
and they said they disown their daughter for being naughty,
for shaming the family.
Saara: Some refugees are in refugee camps for years
waiting to be accepted into Canada.
Why was Rahaf Mohammed accepted so quickly?
There is a process run by the UNHCR,
so the UN organization that manages refugees
has a process to help people who are in urgent danger.
And it's happened before, but your quite right.
There are millions of refugees around the world desperate
to get out of their situation in their countries,
and sometimes they have to wait years.
So for many people it did seem that she got special treatment.
So I asked her about that.
And she said, I agree."
I acknowledge that I was one of the lucky ones."
Saara: Thank you for sitting down with us.
Susan: You're welcome.