The UNCHR is Failing Christian Asylum Seekers
By CFI Field Staff
BANGKOK, THAILAND — Christian Freedom International secured the release of Pakistani Christian asylum seekers from a Bangkok detention facility. For security reasons, their names and identities must remain confidential.
On August 26, 2015, Thai police raided the small, one-room flat where two Christian families from Pakistan were living while awaiting their asylum cases to be considered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangkok.
The families were arrested and incarcerated for expired visas. CFI paid the fines and secured their release on August 28.
The Christian families fled Pakistan several years ago because of religious persecution. Upon their arrival in Thailand, they immediately filed for asylum with the UNHCR office in Bangkok for resettlement to a free country where they can live in freedom. They cannot go back to Pakistan because they will be killed.
Upon filing for asylum, an asylum seeker is registered with the UNHCR and is given a hearing date for their case to be considered. Under international law, the registration grants the asylum seeker protective status from arrest and deportation until their request for asylum is adjudicated. Aid for daily survival is supposed to be provided by the UNCHR for the asylum seeker until their case is resolved.
However, in Thailand Christian asylum seekers receive little to no help from the UNHCR and are left to fend for themselves. Most have to live in the shadows on expired visas and passports. Without proper documents, they have no legal way to find employment. They live day-to-day just trying to survive and avoid arrest for expired travel documents.
There are now thousands of Pakistani Christians in Bangkok who have fled persecution in their home country trying to get a hearing from the UNHCR for resettlement to a free country. Thailand is one of a few countries with a UNHCR office that is also relatively easy to obtain a tourist visa to enter.
Persecuted Christians from Pakistan who come to Thailand seeking asylum with the UNHCR face many hardships. After registering for asylum, the UNHCR too often sets their illusive “hearing” dates for many years from when they enter Thailand. As a result, Christian asylum seekers are forced to go underground and try to survive while they wait for their case to be considered years from now. The UNHCR does nothing to assist or protect them while they wait in the shadows.
Christian Freedom International is caring for the needs of Pakistani Christian asylum seekers in Thailand by providing funds for shelter, food, and medical care. CFI is overwhelmed with requests for help. Many need emergency medical care and food. CFI is also speaking out on behalf of Christian asylum seekers in an effort to get their cases heard before the UNHCR in a timely manner.
A “Helping Hand?”
According to its website, the UNHCR promotes itself as offering a “helping hand.” It advertises by stating the “UNHCR and its partners provide vital assistance, which takes many forms. Initially, we provide live-saving emergency assistance in the form of clean water and sanitation and health care as well as shelter materials and other relief items, such as blankets, sleeping mats, jerry cans, household goods and sometimes food. Other vital assistance that we provide, or help provide, includes refugee registration, assistance and advice on asylum applications, education and counselling.”
According to CFI president Jim Jacobson, “Tragically, asylum seekers believe that the UNHCR does what it says it will do. That is why so many are coming to Thailand. In reality, Christian asylum seekers from Pakistan receive only the help they get from CFI and a few other private sector ministries.”
“The UNHCR has an annual budget of more than $5 billion dollars and employs tens of thousands of highly paid, faceless, international bureaucrats to administer its programs. The U.S. taxpayer provides more than 35 percent of its annual budget. Its time for some accountability,” said Jacobson.
The UNHCR is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, one of the most expensive cities in the world to live.