Death of Pakistani asylum-seeker prompts call for end of prison-like detention

[webfact]

Death of Pakistani asylum-seeker prompts call for end of prison-like detention

By Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

 

  

Officials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) visited a shelter in Hua Sai housing 99 Rohingya refugees, 21 Jan 2015.

 

BANGKOK — The death of a Pakistani Christian detainee at an immigration police detention center prompted a human rights organization to issue a statement on Saturday calling for the military government to investigate the death and put an end to indefinite detention of asylum seekers.

 

The death of Ijaz Masih, 39, a Christian Pakistani who suffered from a heart attack May 27 at the Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok, led Human Rights Watch to issue a statement Saturday calling for the investigation of the death and to end the indefinite detention of asylum seekers. An activist working with refugees said the problem is partly to do with Thailand’s lack of laws recognizing asylum seekers and the conditions at detention centers.

 

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/bangkok/2017/06/04/death-pakistani-asylum-seeker-prompts-call-end-prison-like-detention/

 

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2017-06-05

 

[BangkokNicky]

Just now, spiderorchid said:

That is a harsh comment, at least this was a real asylum seeker, not an economic tourist/ bludger

Pakistani Christian asylum seekers who are suffering from inhumane conditions in Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and elsewhere. Note to self don't go to these places if i was a asylum seeker.. 

 

- See more at: http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/detail.php?hnewsid=6451#sthash.dnFRMDng.dpuf

[paz]

21 minutes ago, BangkokNicky said:

Pakistani Christian asylum seekers who are suffering from inhumane conditions in Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and elsewhere. Note to self don't go to these places if i was a asylum seeker.. 

As if people in their situation had a choice... Just refrain from posting if all you have to say is smartass comments.

[metisdead]

A post containing callous as well as offensive comments has been removed as well as the replies. 

[tomwct]

46 minutes ago, paz said:

As if people in their situation had a choice... Just refrain from posting if all you have to say is smartass comments.

I agree!

[LazySlipper]

In Canada they get a welfare check, clothes and a decent place to stay. Apparently Sweden is even more generous. 

I really wonder why countries like Thailand, Korea, and Japan aren't open to help asylum seekers.

 

What really gets my goat is the High Brow attitude these people put on. 

 

Gotta lov'em

[Scott]

Pakistan is not a particularly safe or welcoming country for Christians, so it is likely that he is a member of a group that faces persecution.  

 

The fact that the UN is involved probably means he is listed as a "Person of Concern," which is the euphemism for refugees, since there is no such status as a refugee in Thailand.  

 

Short of making the arduous trip through the ME to North Africa and getting on one of the boats to Europe, he most likely chose to come to Thailand as he could get a visa and get a plane.   Like many of the Syrians here, he arrived legally, but once the visa ran out his status changed.   Asylum seekers register with the UN, who provides them with assistance, but they are still subject to the vagrancies of the the Thai gov't who may decide to detain them.   It appears he fell into that category.  

 

 

[johna]

Of course no Pakistani would tell a lie to gain refugee status. 

[Moonlover]

20 minutes ago, Scott said:

Pakistan is not a particularly safe or welcoming country for Christians, so it is likely that he is a member of a group that faces persecution.  

 

The fact that the UN is involved probably means he is listed as a "Person of Concern," which is the euphemism for refugees, since there is no such status as a refugee in Thailand.  

 

Short of making the arduous trip through the ME to North Africa and getting on one of the boats to Europe, he most likely chose to come to Thailand as he could get a visa and get a plane.   Like many of the Syrians here, he arrived legally, but once the visa ran out his status changed.   Asylum seekers register with the UN, who provides them with assistance, but they are still subject to the vagrancies of the the Thai gov't who may decide to detain them.   It appears he fell into that category.  

 

 

Your assessment is just about spot on Scott. There was an undercover BBC documentary, filmed on this very topic last year.

 

They arrive on tourist visas with the intention of applying for refugee status with the UN. The reason is, as you have guessed, the discrimination and harassment in their own country. But, I'm afraid that it's ''out of the frying pan and into the fire'' here.

 

There status here is technically legal, according to the UN and are awaiting processing to be moved on the a third country,

 

They are treated disgracefully by this ''compassionate Buddhist country'', continuously harassed  and keeped in conditions that a civilized country wouldn't keep animals in. I was disgusted by it!

 

Edited June 5, 2017 by Moonlover

[Scott]

13 minutes ago, johna said:

Of course no Pakistani would tell a lie to gain refugee status. 

I am not sure what you think he is lying about.   Pakistan lists a persons religion on their ID cards.   You would be in even more serious trouble if you were a Muslim and said you were a Christian.

 

It should also be noted they do not convey refugee status in Thailand.   Thailand is not a signatory to the conventions on refugees.   As stated if they have a reasonable claim, they are listed as a Person of Concern.  

[YetAnother]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

An activist working with refugees said the problem is partly to do with Thailand’s lack of laws recognizing asylum seekers and the conditions at detention centers.

i can only imagine; does illustrate 3rd world concern for life

[fish monger]

1 hour ago, johna said:

Of course no Pakistani would tell a lie to gain refugee status. 

Excuse me, BUT.....I would lie also, if that is what it took to escape from the Pakistani HELL HOLE....! What is your problem with people trying to obtain a better life, let alone SURVIVE...? Your comment is borderline racist and pathetic. Better you check your prejudice level.

[johna]

1 hour ago, Scott said:

I am not sure what you think he is lying about.   Pakistan lists a persons religion on their ID cards.   You would be in even more serious trouble if you were a Muslim and said you were a Christian.

 

It should also be noted they do not convey refugee status in Thailand.   Thailand is not a signatory to the conventions on refugees.   As stated if they have a reasonable claim, they are listed as a Person of Concern.  

So you've seen his ID card?? One of the first things migrants do is destroy their ID. Migrants lie about their status to gain refugee status all the time. 75% of Syrian/Afghan migrants in Europe, claiming they were under the age of 14 were lying. 

[johna]

10 minutes ago, fish monger said:

Excuse me, BUT.....I would lie also, if that is what it took to escape from the Pakistani HELL HOLE....! What is your problem with people trying to obtain a better life, let alone SURVIVE...? Your comment is borderline racist and pathetic. Better you check your prejudice level.

They are not refugees they are economic migrants who are not escaping hell but bringing hell with them to whatever country they end up in.

You really need to loose that brainwashed retarded liberal POV. These migrants are not your friends, perhaps you missed recent events in, Manchester and London.

[11223344]

24 minutes ago, fish monger said:

Excuse me, BUT.....I would lie also, if that is what it took to escape from the Pakistani HELL HOLE....! What is your problem with people trying to obtain a better life, let alone SURVIVE...? Your comment is borderline racist and pathetic. Better you check your prejudice level.

They escape the HELL HOLE and then do everything in their power to replicate the HELL HOLE in western countries. Living in slums, hardly learn language, customs and get offended if we don't 100% accept what they want.

 

7 minutes ago, johna said:

They are not refugees they are economic migrants who are not escaping hell but bringing hell with them to whatever country they end up in.

You really need to loose that brainwashed retarded liberal POV. These migrants are not your friends, perhaps you missed recent events in, Manchester and London.

100% agree

[BangkokNicky]

They have money to fly out of  Pakistan but still they came to the worst of places instead of looking at there options and then the complain because they didn't do there homework plus they would have know the situation what they were going to face  due to other Pakistan people anyway no sympathy from me .. can't wait until we have a travel ban in place in the UK .. 

[thesetat2013]

As if people in their situation had a choice... Just refrain from posting if all you have to say is smartass comments.

Actually, if this guy was an asylum seeker. He should have at the least checked which country to seek asylum with. Your statement about situation is one he created himself. Note to self: if ever i want to seek asylum, check and make sure country accepts asylum seekers.

[BangkokNicky]

1 minute ago, thesetat2013 said:

Actually, if this guy was an asylum seeker. He should have at the least checked which country to seek asylum with. Your statement about situation is one he created himself. Note to self: if ever i want to seek asylum, check and make sure country accepts asylum seekers.

Bingo we have a winner .. 

[Johnnyngai]

3 hours ago, LazySlipper said:

In Canada they get a welfare check, clothes and a decent place to stay. Apparently Sweden is even more generous. 

I really wonder why countries like Thailand, Korea, and Japan aren't open to help asylum seekers.

 

What really gets my goat is the High Brow attitude these people put on. 

 

Gotta lov'em

Those three are over populated and at one time dirt poor.  

[Scott]

We don't know the circumstances that brought him to Thailand, but he would have arrived legally, otherwise he would have never been given access to the UN.   He also would have known that he could not seek asylum in Thailand.  

 

There may have been events in his home area/country/family that prevented his return.   Thailand doesn't grant any rights and if could have been simply deported, he would have been.  

 

I know some Syrians, for example, who lived and worked legally in Thailand prior to the outbreak of war.   They experienced problems when their passports eventually expired, but they could no longer return.   

 

Deporting people does require the consent of the home country.

 

 

[HOAX]

To sum it all up: The world would be a better place without religion.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Scott]

An inflammatory post has been removed.  

 

[halloween]

A few years ago, he would have been on a boat to Oz. Seems that policy is working.

[Bullie]

4 hours ago, fish monger said:

Excuse me, BUT.....I would lie also, if that is what it took to escape from the Pakistani HELL HOLE....! What is your problem with people trying to obtain a better life, let alone SURVIVE...? Your comment is borderline racist and pathetic. Better you check your prejudice level.

Maybe you should open your eyes to the real world. Lot's of people try to escape the HELL HOLE that is called Africa, and try to reach Europe. About a million of subsaharians have now succeeded in reaching Italy, Spain and Greece. All are lying through their teeth trying to obtain a european residency permit, which in Northern Europe means a free house, free medical insurance, a pension for life, free household appliances plus the chance to let your family come live with you too, who will then receive the same amenities too.

All paid for by the hardworking white folks in the North. So yes, better to keep out those who are not directly persecuted and in danger of their lives. Nothing racist about self-preservation.

[BangkokNicky]

3 hours ago, Bullie said:

Maybe you should open your eyes to the real world. Lot's of people try to escape the HELL HOLE that is called Africa, and try to reach Europe. About a million of subsaharians have now succeeded in reaching Italy, Spain and Greece. All are lying through their teeth trying to obtain a european residency permit, which in Northern Europe means a free house, free medical insurance, a pension for life, free household appliances plus the chance to let your family come live with you too, who will then receive the same amenities too.

All paid for by the hardworking white folks in the North. So yes, better to keep out those who are not directly persecuted and in danger of their lives. Nothing racist about self-preservation.

Yeah and that's why they are stuck because everything being over loaded at the moment with all these people it's crazy these days when you turn on the news .. also we can't even look after are own homeless people .. these days because the system is over loaded .. 

[Dogmatix]

Al Jazeera did a documentary about Pakistani Christian asylum seekers in Thailand.  Their plight is truly pitiful.  The UN processes them at a snail's pace for resettlement elsewhere, partly due to the slowness of host countries.  The UN gives them papers confirming refugee status which are supposed to let them stay freely until they can be processed.  However, the UN cannot process them within the time frame of the refugee status and the Thai government rounds them up and detains them in jail as illegal immigrants.   They face serious persecution, if sent back to Pakistan. 

 

      

[Enoon]

9 hours ago, BangkokNicky said:

Yeah and that's why they are stuck because everything being over loaded at the moment with all these people it's crazy these days when you turn on the news .. also we can't even look after are own homeless people .. these days because the system is over loaded .. 

 

The world is "overloaded".

 

That's how it will be from now on.

 

Get used to it.

 

 

[BangkokNicky]

2 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

The world is "overloaded".

 

That's how it will be from now on.

 

Get used to it.

 

 

Very true .. indeed even homeless people back in the UK are finding so hard .. and it's amazing they only talk about Paks what about other people in IDC .. it's a joke don't you think they haven't suffered in these conditions .. Paks never change to be honest with you .. 

[Matt96]

why these people can't get a message - Thailand does not want these  "asylum seekers" especially after Europe contaminated itself with Islamist parasites pretending to be "asylum seekers"

 

that's why Thailand did not sign Geneva convention.

 

go somewhere else. nobody needs you here.

[Matt96]

21 hours ago, fish monger said:

What is your problem with people trying to obtain a better life, let alone SURVIVE...

the problem is that they made hell of their own countries because of their culture and religion and then want to come to prosperous countries to make hell of them. because leftists teach us that all cultures are equal and assimilation is wrong.

 

natural conditions in Pakistan are much better then in Sweden, for example. may be there is something wrong with Pakistanis and their mentality that they created such a hell at home?!