Myanmar beauty queen Han Lay flew to Canada after being threatened with deportation from Thailand to her home country. Photo/CNN
Han Lay, 23, attracted international attention with her emotional speech at the 2021 Miss Grand International finals, when she held up a banner with the words “Pray for Myanmar” to raise awareness of rights atrocities human rights committed by junta officials.
He received death threats after the speech and decided not to return home from the competition in Thailand.
However, he appears to be facing deportation after returning to Thailand last Wednesday from a trip to Vietnam. He was detained by officials at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, who said they discovered a problem with his passport and he had been in limbo ever since.
Deputy head of Thailand’s immigration office, Archayon Kraithong, told CNN that Han Lay left Bangkok on Tuesday evening.
“The final destination is Canada,” he said without providing further details, quoted by US-based media, Thursday (9/29/2022).
Han Lay previously told CNN he was seeking political asylum in Canada while he wanted to stay in Thailand.
“Han Lay was the victim of a deliberate political move by the junta to render him stateless when he returned to Thailand from Vietnam last week,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
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