Saudi teen granted asylum by Canada counts herself as a ‘lucky one’

TIL Desk/World/Toronto/ Rahaf Mohammed, the Saudi teen who was granted asylum by Canada, said she counts herself among the “lucky ones” as she could change reality to make her own decisions.“I am one of the lucky ones. I know that there are unlucky women who disappeared after trying to escape or who could not do anything to change their reality,” she said during a press conference on Tuesday.

Outlining the ordeal she faced back home, Rahaf revealed, “I was not treated respectfully by my family and I was not allowed to be myself and who I want to be. As you know, in Saudi Arabia this is the case for all Saudi women, except for those that are fortunate enough to have understanding parents.”“They (women) can’t be independent and they need the approval of their male guardian for everything.

Any woman who thinks of escaping, or escapes, will be at risk of persecution,” she remarked while thanking Canada, Thailand United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and “everyone else” who played a role in finding her a safe refuge. She pledged to work in support of freedom for women around the world in her statement, while highlighting that she would like to start living a “normal private life, just like any other young woman living in Canada”.