A Press Release from British Pakistani Christian Association forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) Chairman Wilson Chowdhry recently visited Thailand to gain direct knowledge of the situation faced by Pakistani Christian refugees there. The BPCA had been aware it is very bad and being there confirmed that reality. Chowdhry first went to an English speaking church in Bangkok led by Tim Eaddy, where he experienced a wonderful service in a vibrant, multi-racial church. He spoke to Tim Eaddy who reported that although a local group provided a little aid with rent arrears, as well as food, the need was still immense and the church is unable to cope. The Pakistani Christians under his care need assistance to get into long-term accommodation. He had been praying for Western nations to help, since such Christians are living right on the edge, affecting their morale and health.
As these Christians do not have refugee status, they are not allowed to work, and so have no legal income. They rely on handouts and sporadic illegal work. A lot of them have professional backgrounds, such as doctors, teachers, and lawyers. They go to Thailand because it is the cheapest and easiest country for which to get a tourist visa. Selling all their goods, they survive until everything they once had has been lost, and then they start to beg or seek help from charities.
Those who fail to get a visa, travel by boat to Thailand, which costs them from between £10,000 to £20,000. These funds are usually raised by selling their houses and other properties, or through loans from family members. The UN says there are about 4000 Pakistani Christian refugees or asylum seekers in Thailand, but many believe the true figure is likely to be about 10,000 as many exist under the radar. Despite being professionals in many cases, what work they can get illegally earns them a pittance. Wilson met one family whose daughter was working in a bar where prostitutes work to support the family. Her parents are fearful for her life and what she might be subjected to in that job, but she has to feed her family.
Wilson also went to an Urdu service in a church supported by local Thai businessman Papa Thongchai, ‘Urdu Church in the Hands of God’. Papa Thongchai and his wife have sacrificed much of their business and lifestyle to help Pakistani Christians. He started to do so after he experienced other Thai churches refusing Pakistani Christians entrance to worship because they ‘smelled and were unclean’. The church is now sponsored by a local Christian businessman who helps them hire a hall, but as the congregation has grown to about 250, this is now too small. With the entire congregation poor and homeless, very little money comes from the collection. Papa Thongchai often gives the money himself, or gets it from other local supporters. Wilson Chowdhry reported experiencing open racism of a type he has not experienced in the UK since the 1980s. One of the additional problems is that these Christians survive on handouts, and have to go from church to church begging for the essentials to live, but the churches are getting fed up of this and don’t have the resources to keep giving. There is also racism against Pakistanis by taxi drivers.
Wilson was invited to speak at this church meeting, and because the need was so great, even though BPCA is ‘unfunded’, he agreed to provide ‘Country Expert Reports’ for asylum appeals for free. In many cases, asylum seekers have failed to get refugee status with the UN because they had not provided enough evidence of persecution and discrimination. In addition, just like BPCA’s experience in the UK, the UN regularly suggests the unrealistic alternative of internal relocation.
The next day, with the help of Papa Thongchai, Wilson went to see more families. Such families can often barely get food to feed their children, let alone medication (there were reports of a Pakistani Christian father who went into a clinic wanting to know if he could sell his kidney to raise funds to pay for medical care for his sick daughter). Wilson met a woman blind in one eye and also developing cataracts. The operation to save what sight she has would cost £400, and BPCA is seeking help to raise this money.
The BPCA also learned that the Thai government is getting tired of the huge numbers of refugees, so there is an ongoing police crackdown on ‘illegal immigrants’ such as the Pakistani Christians. Thailand has not signed up to the UN refugee convention, and police raids terrify the Christians, who are even sometimes afraid to go out and buy food when they can afford it. They can’t afford to replace locks broken by the raids and fearful of further raids, they get friends to padlock them in from the outside to give the appearance of empty rooms, but given the likelihood of fire in these rough, slum-like buildings, they run the grave danger of being trapped and burnt alive. In such waves of arrests, over 400 Pakistani Christians were incarcerated. If they are taken to an Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) and can pay 50,000 baht, about £1000, they can go free with a two year pardon period during which they won’t be rearrested. The conditions in the IDC are horrific, with 150 locked into rooms meant for 100 with just one toilet between them. They can only sleep either standing up, or crouching down. There are still 21 Pakistani Christians in the IDC, with a cost of over £20,000 to get them all out. They are forced to wear orange uniforms, and their daily ration is a small amount of rice, and cucumber soup (boiled cucumber in plain water). Papa Thongchai reports that they go in relatively healthy and come out having visibly lost significant amounts of weight and looking malnourished. Much focus has been put on the dangerous nature of the travel from countries with persecution by mainstream media, yet nothing is written about the horrors that face those who survive the journey.
Some who are arrested don’t go to the IDC, but are taken to the Central jail where they are locked in with hardened criminals – rapists, murderers and the like. The men are stripped naked, their heads are shaved and they are put in shackles that go around their feet and legs, and their arms and hands. The women are not allowed to wear underwear and are forced to jump around to show they have smuggled nothing in internally, with men often in the same room jeering and ogling. The prisoners are fined £4 a day for every day they overstay, and can be rearrested at any time, despite paying these fines. The children of these Pakistani Christian brothers and sisters are locked up with their parents in the Central jail. Those with babies struggle especially, since although nappies and milk are made available, these are only for Thai citizens, not for these innocent asylum seekers. Mothers watch their children suffer and starve, and have to use plastic bags as nappies, unless charities supply the needful. In addition, the jailors in both the Central prison and the IDCs can be very brutal.
This whole situation leaves the Pakistani Christians not only terrified, but strongly aware of their diminutive status in Thailand. For instance, if a Christian Pakistani marries a Thai they won’t be granted citizenship. As soon as their spouse dies, they revert back to being a refugee. Even with refugee status legal employment is not permitted, forcing people to breach their refugee conditions by obtaining illegal work or leaving them to beg. Moreover, resettlement into countries that have adopted UN Conventions for Asylum can take up to ten years or more.
Wilson visited one community of 57 Christian families which is well educated, and have pulled together and created a school with 150 kids (they also let the Pakistani Ahmahdi refugees and asylum seeker children attend for free). However, they operate under the terrible fear that the teachers may be arrested. They also need seats for the children and a photocopier for making copies of the curriculum. The school is currently in the roof space of a building, which means during the violently wet and windy monsoon season, the school cannot operate. The community also created a church in a roof space, where they take it in turns to preach and lead worship.
Additionally the community has a small medical supplies room, the medicines of which were originally supplied by Global Christian Voice, who also helped with starting the school, but obviously it is not enough and stocks have run low, and need replenishing.
