Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has received reports of new arrests in Thailand of Pakistan Christians who are seeking asylum, in the Samrong district of Bangkok.

We are being given reports today, June 6, 2015, that Thai police arrested eight Pakistani Christians asylum seekers including three men, three women, one elderly woman and a ten month old baby in the Samrong area of Bangkok today.

R.E.A.L. calls for the Thailand government to show mercy for these individuals being detained as they continue to seek asylum through the UNHCR office and await UNHCR Bangkok review of their case for Refugee Status Determination (RSD).

As we see from today’s report, Pakistan Christian refugees who have fled to Thailand are being arrested by the security forces before the UNHCR interviews them and makes a decision on their case. They are not getting the opportunity to be considered for such asylum and refugee status, as these women, children, and men get rounded up and put into Immigration Detention Center (IDCs).

In May 2006, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) identified Pakistan to be designated as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) by the Department of State, due to its abuses against freedoms. Pakistan remains a “Tier 1” Country of Particular Concern to the this U.S. Government organization.

R.E.A.L. has been repeatedly petitioning the Thailand government on this matter, and we have provide detailed documentation of the Pakistan Christian oppression for Thailand government representatives for their consideration of mercy towards these asylum seekers.

The U.S. Embassy in Thailand has provided a statement to R.E.A.L., that once the UNHCR makes an RSD decision on these refugees, it will also consider their cases for U.S. asylum as well. The Pakistan Christian refugees clearly meet the refugee standards as described in UNHCR Resettlement Handbook, Chapter 5, Section 5.7.1.

But we need the UNHCR to accelerate its process of getting review of Pakistan Christians’ refugee status, and we call for the Thailand government to use patience in allowing the refugees’ reviews by UNHCR to get completed. We call for the Thailand government use mercy and restraint for these Pakistan Christian refugees in Thailand to have the right to get UNHCR refugee status interviews and consideration, without being put in Thailand prisons. These desperate individuals need time for the UNHCR to process their cases and give them an opportunity for asylum in nations where they will not be oppressed due to their religion.

While Thailand may not be a signatory to the specific 1951 Refugee Convention, Thailand is a signatory to many other international agreements and laws which protect the rights and dignity of Pakistan Christians who only seek our shared universal human rights of freedom of religion and security, which have been denied to them by Pakistan.

Thailand is a signatory to the:
— Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (December 10, 1948)
— International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (October 29, 1996)
— Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (October 2, 2007)
— Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (January 9, 2012)
— Convention on the Rights of the Child (March 27, 1992)

In Pakistan, these refugees and their children have been these rights. They are not only Pakistan Christians, they are our fellow human beings who have all of the rights which Thailand and the nations of the world agree to ensure for them in our community of humanity. They have the right to the international legal protection under these agreements which Thailand has signed as one of the nations of the world.

It is morally and ethically wrong for refugees fleeing from Pakistan fleeing because of conditions where they are being such rights, to also be denied freedoms in another nation which is a signatory to these international laws and covenants.   Pukkar News also quotes Farrukh Harrison Saif: “The international community has to put pressure on Thai government, not to arrest the asylum seekers, because asylum is not a crime. It is a right of any individual or a family or group.”

We urge the public to share this concerns with the Kingdom of Thailand government, the UNHCR, and the OHCHR.

Please share your voice with these agencies and institutions. Please also find the Thailand embassy in your nation, and reach out to it on this issue.

Kingdom of Thailand
The Secretariat of the Prime Minister
Government House, 1 Phitsanulok Road, Dusit, Bangkok 10300
General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister
Secretariat_PM@opm.go.th
FAX: 66 02 282 5131

Kingdom of Thailand
Royal Thai Embassy
1024 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 40
Washington, DC 20007
United States
Contact: H.E. Mr. Pisan Manawapat – Ambassador
Telephone: (202) 944-3600
Thailand Embassy/Consulate Email: information@thaiembdc.org, consular@thaiembdc.org

Kingdom of Thailand
Royal Thai Embassy
Plots No.1 – 20 Diplomatic Enclave-1
Sector G-5/4 Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel. (92 51) 843 1270-80 : 1113
Tel. (92-51) 8431270
Fax. (92-51) 8431288,8431291
Ambassador Mr. Leochai Jantarasobat
Telephone: (92 51) 843-1297
royalthaiembassyislamabad@gmail.com
Third Secretary Mr. Thom Petchpugdepeong
(92 51) 843 1270-80 : 1113
thomkkp@gmail.com
http://www.thaiembassy.org/islamabad/en/org-chart

UNHCR Regional Representative in Thailand
3rd Floor, United Nations Building, Rajdamnern Nok Avenue, 10200 Bangkok, Thailand
Telephone: 66 2 288 1858
FAX: 66 2 280 0555
Email: thaba@unhcr.org

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Case Postale 2500
CH-1211 Genève 2 Dépôt
Switzerland (Suisse)
Telephone: +41 22 739 8111
FAX: +41 22 739 7377

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Director of UNHCR Office
P.O. Box 20
Grand Central, New York, NY 10017
United States
Telephone: 1-212-963-0032
Facsimile: 1-212-963-0074
Email: usane@unhcr.org

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Regional Office for South East Asia
6th Floor, United Nations Buidling, Rachadamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 288 1235
Fax: +66 2 288 1039
Email: ohchr.bangkok@un.org
Ms. Matilda Bogner
Regional Representative
+66 81 755 0826
bogner@un.org

Our message to Thailand, UNHCR, OHCHR, and the people of the world is PLEASE – join us and be Responsible for Equality And Liberty – for all.