I know there are people who still have doubts about the validity of Ibrahim's gofundme campaign, so I have him send me a video on WhatsApp. Please donate if you can and if you can't, please reblog so this post can reach more people!
Moreover: Ibrahim and his children are currently under the risk of being displaced, AGAIN. They are in most dire need of your help right now! 2-year-old Ahmed and 10-month-old Rahaf don't deserve any of this!!!
Rough translation of the video:
We are in our tent right now, we have no refrigerator, so to prevent ants and insects in our food, we hang them up in our tent. This is Ahmed, and this is Rahaf.
Witnessing #SaveRahaf has been incredible. We went from helplessly watching a courageous young woman be kidnapped and sent back to her death in KSA to watching history unfold. For no one gave up, Rahaf included. Hundreds if not thousands of us flooded Twitter, embassies, petitions, and the like. Individually, it did very little. But collectively, it showed the world that the general public isn’t going to put up with KSA’s bs anymore.
Rahaf is now meeting with UN officials and the Thai government has promised not to send her back to KSA. A situation that seemed hopeless 8 hours ago now seems like itll work out favorably. She’s not out of the woods yet but this really may mark a turning point!
Rahaf al-Qunun, 18, fled her family after renouncing Islam, and had been stranded at Bangkok airport.
❤️ Rahaf escaped Saudi Arabia’s patriarchal system — more oppressive under #MBS #Khashoggi
Being physically and psychologically abused is criminal. Being locked in your room for SIX MONTHS because you cut your hair too short is medieval. Reach out for help #Save....
👏👏👏 🇨🇦 Thanks Canada.
This is one of the reasons why Canada is the only “full democracy” in the West. The US was downgraded from a "full democracy" to a "flawed democracy" in 2017 because of Trump.
Why she fled from her family and Saudi Arabia?
“I don’t have rights in Saudi Arabia”, Rahaf
Renunciation of Islam is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.
Under Saudi Arabia's "male guardianship system", a Saudi woman is required to obtain a male relative's approval to apply for a passport, travel outside the country, study abroad on a government scholarship, get married, leave prison, or even exit a shelter for abuse victims.
Ms Qunun told the BBC: "I shared my story and my pictures on social media and my father is so angry because I did this... I can't study and work in my country, so I want to be free and study and work as I want."
She also said she was afraid her family would kill her.
Separately, she told AFP she had suffered physical and psychological abuse from her family, including being locked in her room for six months for cutting her hair.
On Friday, Ms Qunun wrote on Twitter that she had "some good news and some bad news", before deleting her account. Her friends said she had received death threats online.
Why Saudi Women Are Literally Living ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, Mona Eltahawy - NYTimes May 24, 2017
Her Social Media campaign #SaveRahaf
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, had been trying to reach Australia via Bangkok, but was initially told to return to Kuwait, where her family were waiting.
She refused to fly back and barricaded herself into her airport hotel room, attracting international attention.
she kept up her barrage, live tweeting every minute of her ordeal and putting out videos that showed everything that was happening to her at the airport. Over the course of Sunday, her posts became more and more fevered.
The fear and desperation she conveyed through the tweets drew sympathy and support from the Twitter community.
Tweets carrying the #SaveRahaf hashtag continued to gain momentum and by mid-Sunday afternoon, it was in more than half a million tweets, according to Twitter.
An unknown teenager from Saudi Arabia that no-one had ever heard of had gone from 24 followers to more than 27,000 in the span of less than 24 hours.
Her Twitter account @rahaf84427714 is now at 173,000+ followers
Rahaf al-Qunun: Unpicking the tweets that may have saved her life, BBC
Canada to the Rescue
When Thailand threaten to deport Rahaf, Canada helped pressure Thailand to protect her according to Human Rights Watch.
prompting this change
“Thailand is a land of smiles. We will not send someone back to die,” Thailand immigration chief, Major Generak Surachate Hakparn
"Canada has been unequivocal that we will always stand up for human rights and women's rights around the world. When the UN made a request of us that we grant Ms al-Qunun asylum, we accepted.", Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Canada didn’t give in or sell out like Trump “Individual-1″
Canada has previously angered Saudi Arabia after calling for the release of detained women's rights activists in the country - prompting Riyadh to expel Canada's ambassador and freeze all new trade.
Saudi Arabia’s Response
Her online campaign was so successful that Saudi chargé d'affaires Abdalelah Mohammed A. al-Shuaibi told Thai officials through a translator:
"We wish they had confiscated her phone instead of her passport."
#SaveRahaf: Saudi teen's successful online campaign
Hope you have an awesome day! You’re such a great inspiration and a lovely person, so you totally deserve to enjoy your day <3 I made you this little gift because I really love your OCs, and I would love to see more of them in the future :’3 you have my full support~ Keep being amazing Rahaf!
Happy Late Birthday @rahafwabas / @rahaf-wabas !!!!!!!!
You deserve all the love (not LOVE) the tumblr have ^^ You’re a awesome person, always helping your friends, always showing how cool you’re and you have a amazing style, drawing style and clothing style!!!!!
If you need anything just tell me okay? Maybe you don’t know me much but for me you’re a friend, and one of the best ones =)
And a pun.... gotta go Rahafast!!!!!!
Thanks @superyoumna for giving me your opinion about the drawing <3
Obs: Rahaf, if you want the the render of the drawing just tell me in the chat =D It would be a pleasure =D
