Young asylum seeker who defied family arrives in Canada
A young Saudi woman who caused a sensation by defying her family and seeking asylum abroad was welcomed with open arms in Toronto Saturday at the end of an exhausting international odyssey.
Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland greeted Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun after she landed in Toronto, wearing a blue ball cap and a gray hoodie emblazoned in red with the word "CANADA."
Smiling broadly, the 18-year-old posed for photographers with Freeland at her side, but made no statement.
Freeland said Qunum "wanted Canadians to see that she's here, that she's well and that she is very, very happy to be in her new home."
"She had a pretty long journey and is exhausted and prefers not to take questions for the moment," she said.
Qunun captured the world's attention with a trail of Twitter posts that ignited a #SaveRahaf movement as she fled what she said was an abusive family in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia.
Thai authorities backed down on an attempt to deport her after she arrived in Bangkok on a flight from Kuwait a week ago, turning her over to the US's refugee agency instead.
Then on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the surprise announcement that Canada would take her...