Most people in Canada are, I think, pleased to welcome our latest immigrant, 18-year old Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun (yeah, she's going to have to do something about that middle name, especially given that she has renounced Islam...)
After an exciting, and necessarily high-profile, caper, worthy of a straight-to-TV movie, Ms. al-Qunun arrived in Toronto yesterday to much media attention. She seems a bright, engaging and personable young lady, and I'm sure she'll do just fine. You certainly have to admire her chutzpah.
I just worry that, if she is too high-profile, she is putting herself (and possibly those around her) at risk from malcontents, whether that be from Islamists, anti-immigration fascist types, or even other immigrants bitter at the ease and the manner in which she has just waltzed into the country while thousands of others are left hanging on for months, even years.
Because that's a whole other issue. Ms. al-Qunun has been "fast-tracked", a mechanism that, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) "is available only to a fraction of the world's 25.4 million refugees, typically those at greatest risk, such as women at risk". Certainly, she can never go back to Saudi Arabia (or any Islamic country, for that matter), given that apostasy is a capital offence there, and she has already received death threats over Twitter. Nor would she want to go back to a family which she claims have physically abused her.
But it must rankle with other refugees that she has basically skipped the usual immigration process through having the money to take a plane to Thailand at the drop of a hat, and having enough technological know-how to leverage social media to get through to some influential people. Some would call it gumption, but some would probably call it cheating. Ryerson professor and immigration expert Mehrunnisa Ali points out that, "the message we may be giving is that, rather than go through the system, reach a powerful person".
Global Affairs Canada is, obviously, playing down that particular narrative, merely repeating that UNHCR requested that Canada grant Ms. al-Qunun asylum, and that Canada accepted "out of concern for her safety". Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has, thankfully, contented himself with trotting out the usual platitudes that "Canada has always been unequivocal that we will always stand up for human rights and women's rights around the world". Which is just as well because, as former Canadian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Dennis Horak cautions, although taking in Ms. al-Qunun may have been the right thing to do, Canada should be careful not to "trot her out as a prop in a diplomatic game", but to encourage a low profile while things calm down (Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland was on hand to welcome the Saudi teen to Canada - that in itself was probably a higher profile start than may have been strictly wise). Canadian relations with Saudi Arabia are already at an all-time low, for a bunch of different reasons, and rubbing their noses in this particular politico-religious coup can only end in more tears.
The idea that the whole shebang was cooked up by the higher echelons of the Canadian Liberal Party in an attempt to make themselves look good in an election year, and distract attention away from their continued support for arms sales to Saudi Arabia, as some contend, must be considered to be in the realm of conspiracy theories, though.
The idea that the whole shebang was cooked up by the higher echelons of the Canadian Liberal Party in an attempt to make themselves look good in an election year, and distract attention away from their continued support for arms sales to Saudi Arabia, as some contend, must be considered to be in the realm of conspiracy theories, though.
Ms. al-Qunun has said that she wants "to start living a normal, private life", but Ms. al-Qunun herself should quickly put aside any ideas that she is now on easy street. She is living under constant security surveillance (for her own safety), and is accompanied by a staff member from refugee settlement organization COSTI whenever she leaves her temporary accommodation. She is also concerned about how she will support herself financially (a GoFundMe campaign will help with that, at least temporarily). For now, she is still a cause célèbre, but it is possible that she may never live a "normal" Canadian life.
UPDATE
It turns that she has now completely dropped her family name, al-Qunun, since her family has officially disowned her (on social media!),.and nownrwferes to herself as Rahaf Mohammed. I guess she's OK with the name after all. But isn't it a bit like a lapsed Christian calling himself John Christ or something...?
UPDATE
It turns that she has now completely dropped her family name, al-Qunun, since her family has officially disowned her (on social media!),.and nownrwferes to herself as Rahaf Mohammed. I guess she's OK with the name after all. But isn't it a bit like a lapsed Christian calling himself John Christ or something...?
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