BBC news reported that a Saudi Arabian girl, Rahaf Mohammed, left her family to fight for freedom. Firstly, she fled to Thailand but was declared illegal at the airport and needed to be repatriated. At that time, she used Twitter to illustrate her tough situation and the state of Saudi Arabia, where the status of women is extremely low. She said that if she came back to her family, she would be killed by her father or brothers. To protect her life, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) intervened. Finally, Canada granted an emergency refugee to Rahaf Mohammed. Now, the girl is staying in Canada and she can enjoy a normal life (“Saudi teen: Women ‘treated like slaves'”, 2019).
In general, the behavior of Canadian government is fair and reasonable. First of all, from a legal point of view, the life of Rahaf Mohammed is threatened. As a universal rule of law, human life must be protected. Once she returns to Saudi Arabia, she is likely to be killed. Also, Rahaf is considered a legal refugee by UNHCR. As a result, the Canadian government has the responsibility to protect her. Secondly, from the moral point of view, such behavior is the protection of basic human rights. In Saudi Arabia, women have low status. They cannot get an education and they have no freedom of marriage. Even they cannot choose what they wear in daily life.
The value of women’s existence is being men’s appendage (Al Alhareth, Al Alhareth & Al Dighrir, 2015). The Canadian government protects the girl from such a distorted society, which shows the civil society’s resistance to dictatorship and violence. However, the Canadian government’s actions have also caused anxiety. Some point out that the emergency refugee could trigger chaos in the world order (Nyers, 2013). To a large extent, the government should maintain the stability of the country, and the entry of refugees may have a negative impact on the development of nations. Moreover, some people doubt the effectiveness of Canadian government’s action. They argue that the refugee policy would not be able to save all the people.
Even though, I think the express processing is justified. It not only protects the personal safety of refugees, but also embodies the international community’s protection on women’s rights and fundamental human rights. What is more, Canada’s behavior represents the international society focuses on fighting with extreme male power, which has a profound impact on the equality of the world.
Leave A Comment