But just days after fleeing a powerful and allegedly abusive family in Saudi Arabia, Qunun has already been judged by a legitimate refugee by the UN and was in contact with Australian officials in Bangkok about resettlement. Hers is not the plight of refugees who languish for years in sprawling city camps like Dadaab, Kenya or Zaatari, Jordan.
"Usually it's really very slow," said Mary Anne Kenny, a veteran legal practitioner and expert at Australian Migration at Perth's Murdoch University. But Qunun's savvy use of Twitter throughout her ordeal at Bangkok airport, including tweeting videos of her barricading herself in a hotel room, galvanized a global campaign and calls for her to be granted ailment. Two days - and some 80,000 followers - after she was cheered out of the airport by a legion of followers.
- Media focus -
Experts agree on media focus on Qunun's case has put pressure on officials in Thailand - which usually have little sympathy for asylum seekers - to act quickly. But it may also have increased the risk to Qunun's safety - making her resettlement more urgent and strengthening her case for asylum.
If she had made it to Australia, she would have been only one of the thousands of would-be refugees who turned up at Australian ports, airports and borders who face longy waits, albeit in relative safety. Sarah Dale, principal solicitor for the Sydney-based Refugee Advice and Casework Service, which in the last year helped 3,300 refugees, said many of her clients have waited months and years while the wheels of justice ground slowly.
Because Qunun turned up in Thailand - which is not a signatory to the UN Convention on Settlement was not an option, prompting the UN and other countries to step in. Her possession of an Australian tourist visa and very public expression of going to Australia, put pressure on Canberra to take the lead.
Australia is one of the few countries in the world that will resettle refugees who are already outside their home country, but this is very rare. Of 20 million people the UN concerned with 2017, less than one percent were resettled that year.
That, says Mary Anne Kenny, is why talk of Qunun "jumping the queue" are misplaced. With no queue to speak of, it is more like a loser if resettled. Still Tamara Wood, a lecturer in forced migration at the University of New South Wales, said the speed with which her case is being treated seems quick, but "not unprecedented"
The process is not "ad-hoc" she added, citing provisions for emergency and urgent refugee visas. While Australia took around 63 weeks to process refugee visas in 2014-15, some rare cases it is done virtually overnight. "I spend a lot of time critiquing the refugee process," she said "but this is one case where it seems to be working."
- Not done yet -
The process could still slow as Australia conducts medical, security and background checks. Acceptance is not automatic. The authorities will first have to decide whether Qunun's life, liberty, safety, health or other human rights are at risk in Thailand.
The Thai authorities' earlier willingness to return to Qunun to Kuwait or Saudi Arabia could help her meet that standard. As a Saudi woman who has publicly scorned her family and renounced Islam, experts say she ticks many boxes.
Depending on the specifics of her case, she could be eligible for a standard refugee visa, emergency rescue, or perhaps most likely a "woman at risk" visa, which normally requires a UN referral. If accepted she would have a gateway to Australian citizenship. But the government could still say no.
According to Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, which has been lobbied for Qunun to be resettled, that outcome is unlikely. "It would be a pretty stunning reversal if they did not take her," he said. "They are so far out on a limb politically."
"If for any reason it does not work out with Australia, then UNHCR will say okay we will take the file back and refer it to another country
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