THAILAND: Church Helps Pakistani Refugees

Source: Worthy News, March 13, 2016

Pakistanis fleeing their country’s notorious blasphemy laws have been heading to Thailand for sanctuary.

“And for more than a decade, our parish has helped these refugees,” said Rev. Domenico Rodighiero, the pastor of St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Saphanmai, Bangkok. The refugees are mostly Protestants and Catholics, but there are also many Ahmadi Muslims fleeing from persecution in Pakistan.

According to Asia News, most refugees from Pakistan flee first to Thailand, hoping to later resettle in other Southeast Asian countries. But this can prove to be problematic since Thailand does not recognize that refugees have rights.

“The Thai Church is generous and helps refugees find work,” said Rodighiero. “Sometimes we help them go home, or in special situations, like when they get sick. But it is not easy because there are so many and the needs are huge. The Church here is small and does not have a lot of resources. It is struggling to deal with such a big emergency.”

» Read full story and see also Thailand’s Asylum Crackdown, a 23-minute video by a BBC undercover reporter. Use the password “Pakistan.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Missions Catalyst welcomes comments, especially those that provide additional insights on a topic or story as a help to other readers. We reserve the right to screen comments and may provide light editing. Note that comments including links may be delayed so we can make sure they are not spam; we hope you will include relevant links, anyway!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.