Pakistani minorities: fleeing the fire for a snake pit

By Kaleem Dean

During the past few weeks, Thailand Immigration arrested around three dozen Pakistani Christian Asylum Seekers, even though all were holding UNHCR registration certificates. Thailand is a country known for its religious tolerance which has made her an easy destination for people fleeing their homelands to avoid persecution and oppression. 

Majority of Asylum Seekers in Thailand come from the Pakistani Christian community, and remainunder constant social subjugation in their home country. Amy Smith, Director of ‘Fortify Rights’, an organization that works to prevent human rights violation in South Asian countries, said, “Asylum seekers fleeing persecution in their home countries shouldn’t experience further violations in Thailand.” She demanded expeditious release of asylum seekers from the International Detention Centre (IDC.) declaring it, “trampling on the rights of asylum seekers”. 

Thailand is not a signatory of Human Rights Geneva Conventions of 1951, therefore it does not accept or relocate refugees in the country. But with a separate arrangement with the Thai government, the UNHCR has opened its ‘gateway’ office to re-settle successful asylum applicants to other countries of the world. Ironically, the UNHCR has failed to coordinate with Thailand Immigration once asylum applicants get registered with UNHCR. the local immigration authorities must grant a temporary leave to remain in the country but contrary to this, these applicants are arrested once their visas expire. 

Therefore, all applicants after the expiry of their six month’s visit visa are liable to be detained and deported, because of the inability of the UNHCR office to determine asylum applications in the maximum time of six months people exhaust their visaslimit. Holding a UNHCR asylum registration certificate does not satisfy the Thai Immigration or the police for their lawful stay in the country, therefore according to the local immigration rules after expiry of visas all are considered overstayed. Till 2010, the UNHCR in Thailand was comparatively fair in its treatment of asylum applicants but after the Rohingya crises in Myanmar became complex, the migrant influx increased the burden which was uneasy to handle for the limited staff at UNHCR. In 2009, Gojra riots against the Christian community in Pakistan triggered their exodus from the country. 

In this move, Adamidis and Shia communities too found the chance to find refuge outside the country. The lax visa policy as a tourist destination, Thailand attracted thousands of migrants from various countries of the globe which made it difficult for the UNHCR to deal with all asylum applications within the anticipated time frame, therefore, the heap of backlog kept growing and now an average waiting time for sylum interview is four years. People suffer in Thailand as their applications are not determined according to the set policies of UNHCR. The state-supported cleansing of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, people coming from Myanmar have been recognized the most deserving community to relocate in different countries whereas Christian asylum seekers from Pakistan have been ignored by the UNHCR. 

Two years before a Christian parliamentarian was sent to Thailand to reassure UNHCR and Thai immigration that Christians were safe in Pakistan; this has caused serious problems for the community in Thailand. In addition to this, cases of Christian asylum seekers are determined in light of UK asylum guidance line on Pakistan which is an old document that does not recognize Pakistani Christians as an oppressed community, but as socially discriminated. This way, the Christian asylum seekers fail to secure the refugee status in Thailand. Therefore, not finding hope; many families have returned to the same mess they once decided to leave in quest of safe life. Woefully, there are certain individuals in the Christian community who for their personal monetary gain encourage Christians to leave the country.

In 2009, Gojra riots against the Christian community in Pakistan triggered their exodus from the country. In this move, Ahmadi and Shia communities also found the chance to find refuge outside the country

Their dreams ends when people face the reality f the hard life in Bangkok. These poor people are not allowed legally to earn for their families and remain dependent on the national and international organizations for housing and other household needs. But a few fortunate ones get a chance to find this limited support whereas most people have to rely on illegal means of earning for themselves and their families. Almost half a dozen of Pakistani Christians have died in prisons and their families are facing destitution. Several thousand Christian families have been stranded in limbo, completely unsure about their future and waiting for a Messiah to come to their rescue. Why minorities leave Pakistan? Obviously, every day the growing persecution is the biggest factor, for example, Asif Aqeel, a Christian journalist and thinker reported to the World Watch Monitor that in the first week of November, a Christian boy of 18 years from Sukheke village, Punjab, was falsely accused of desecrating Islam through a Facebook account.

The local community announced him a blasphemer liable to die. Later it was found that someone through a fake Facebook account tried to trap the young Christian, however, the fear-ridden Christian community has fled the village for safety. One such incident creates an environment of fear, anxiety and helplessness. Also, this originates doubts among the members of majority community which widens the social gap between minority and the majority. In such a deplorable domain of oppression, minorities come to censuses that they face a social narrative of hate, discrimination and inequality which lead to their exodus from the country. A revised social structure based on equality could win the trust of marginalized sections of the society; however, the suffering of Pakistani Christian Asylum Seekers in Thailand should come to an end too.

Their dreams ends when people face the reality f the hard life in Bangkok. These poor people are not allowed legally to earn for their families and remain dependent on the national and international organizations for housing and other household needs. But a few fortunate ones get a chance to find this limited support whereas most people have to rely on illegal means of earning for themselves and their families. Almost half a dozen of Pakistani Christians have died in prisons and their families are facing destitution. Several thousand Christian families have been stranded in limbo, completely unsure about their future and waiting for a Messiah to come to their rescue. Why minorities leave Pakistan? Obviously, every day the growing persecution is the biggest factor, for example, Asif Aqeel, a Christian journalist and thinker reported to the World Watch Monitor that in the first week of November, a Christian boy of 18 years from Sukheke village, Punjab, was falsely accused of desecrating Islam through a Facebook account.

The cases of Christian asylum seekers are determined in light of UK asylum guidelines on Pakistan. It is an old document that does not recognise Pakistani Christians as an oppressed community, but just as socially discriminated

The local community announced him a blasphemer liable to die. Later it was found that someone through a fake Facebook account tried to trap the young Christian, however, the fear-ridden Christian community has fled the village for safety. One such incident creates an environment of fear, anxiety and helplessness. Also, this originates doubts among the members of majority community which widens the social gap between minority and the majority. In such a deplorable domain of oppression, minorities come to censuses that they face a social narrative of hate, discrimination and inequality which lead to their exodus from the country. A revised social structure based on equality could win the trust of marginalized sections of the society; however, the suffering of Pakistani Christian Asylum Seekers in Thailand should come to an end too.