Saudi girl barricades herself in hotel and demands to speak to UN

Thailand has said it will not send a Saudi teenager back to her homeland after she barricaded herself in a Bangkok hotel room to avoid being returned to family she fears will kill her.



Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, ran away from her family while they were on a trip to Kuwait three days ago and had flown to Thailand in the hope of reaching Australia to seek asylum.



But she has been at Bangkok airport since Saturday when she was denied entry by Thai immigration officials.



They deny her claims that she was detained at the behest of the Saudi government and this morning halted plans to expel her, insisting she would not be forcibly deported 'if she does not want to leave'.



Thailand's Immigration Police chief Major General Surachate Hakparn also said she will be allowed to meet UN refugee officials.



The teenager was due to have been marched onto a flight back to Kuwait this morning - but she never boarded the plane and has posted a clip on Twitter of her barricading her hotel door with a table, mattresses and a chair.



This morning, Rahah, who fears retaliation from her family after she renounced Islam, told MailOnline: 'I am okay but I am not sure what my family or the Saudi embassy are going to do. I have to go to another country soon.'