The ordeal that Pakistani Christian faces in countries like Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia is not unknown. It has been seen that the problems are never ending and they keep on increasing.
According to sources of Pakistan Christian Post, there are more than 10,000 Pakistani Christian asylum seekers in Thailand, about 4,000 in Malaysia, more than 2,000 in Sri Lanka and in figure of hundreds in Singapore and Hong Kong, who are duly registered with offices of United Nations Refugee Commission UNHCR in respective countries.
It has been reported that in 2014, the Pakistani government pressured the government of Sri Lanka to impose visa restrictions for Pakistani visitors. Entry on arrival was also denied.
Pakistani government had supported the Sri Lanka government in curbing the Tamil Tigers issue and had also provided logistic support therefore the Sri Lanka government agreed and made visa system complex for Christians who fled Pakistan in search of safety.
Harsh visa conditions successfully reduced the flow of asylum seekers and this resulted in a great number of blasphemy cases that were registered in Pakistan during this time. What started after the reduction in number of people arriving in Thailand and Sri Lanka was mass arrests and deportation.
This was the only way minorities of Pakistan took refuge in other countries as European countries had already stopped giving visas to immigrants from Pakistan. Christians face dire straits, detention centers and even deportation.
Even at airports, Christians are hindered from traveling fearing they might seek asylum. This drives the point home that the problems asylum seekers face are administered by the efforts of the present government.
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