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Pakistani Christian refugees punished in Thailand, separated at Christmas
by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - Twenty-eight Pakistani Christian asylum-seekers were detained in Thailand on December 19, and are facing longer-term detention and separation one from another due to ongoing repairs at the main detention facility in Bangkok.
At 6 am army and police burst into a condo complex at Siriroongruang Soi 38 and apprehended several families of Pakistani Christians which included 11 women and 6 children under the age of 10.
"We were all beginning Christmas celebrations but for many now their joy will be dulled as they await upon their future with only the thinnest strand of hope," said John, the lead Thailand officer for the Pakistan Christian Post.
The PCP is currently working to pay the court and overstay fees of the Christians, which looked to be about 4,000 baht, or 133 USD, per person.
The families are likely to be separated and sent to detention facilities across the country.
Christians often flee Pakistan because of the brutal repressive measures of mobs incited by anti-blasphemy laws and a government that is reluctant to punish Islamic extremism for fear of losing political support.
They are often rejected in nearby Thailand, however, as it is not a signatory to the UN Conventions for asylum.