Feels good.
Wearing a “Canada” hoodie and smiling, Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun emerged from the arrivals gate at Pearson Airport Saturday after her long journey fleeing an allegedly abusive family.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland walked out with her arm around the 18-year-old, calling her a “brave new Canadian.”
“This is Rahaf Alqunun,” Freeland said, “And she wants Canadians to see that she’s arrived at her new home. But she’s had a very long and tiring journey and so she would prefer not to take questions today. So please respect that. She’s a brave young woman who’s been through a lot and she is now going to go to her new home.”
She then escorted Alqunun back into the gated arrivals area.
The young woman fled her family while visiting Kuwait and flew to Bangkok, where she barricaded herself in an airport hotel and launched a Twitter campaign that drew global attention to her case.
Full story.
Young Saudi woman arrives in Toronto following global Twitter campaign to grant her asylum | The Star
Wearing a “Canada” hoodie and smiling, Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun emerged from the arrivals gate at Pearson Airport Saturday after her long journey fleeing an allegedly abusive family.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland walked out with her arm around the 18-year-old, calling her a “brave new Canadian.”
“This is Rahaf Alqunun,” Freeland said, “And she wants Canadians to see that she’s arrived at her new home. But she’s had a very long and tiring journey and so she would prefer not to take questions today. So please respect that. She’s a brave young woman who’s been through a lot and she is now going to go to her new home.”
She then escorted Alqunun back into the gated arrivals area.
The young woman fled her family while visiting Kuwait and flew to Bangkok, where she barricaded herself in an airport hotel and launched a Twitter campaign that drew global attention to her case.
Full story.
Young Saudi woman arrives in Toronto following global Twitter campaign to grant her asylum | The Star