Pakistani Christian Refugees Wasting Away in Thailand: 'I Pray I Die Here'

Zahid Younis, a Christian, fled his native Pakistan in 2104 for Thailand to escape persecution. Today, he can't believe his situation is even worse than what he left.

"I pray to God that I die here. My family and I are so tired of such a miserable life," he told CBN News.

In Pakistan, Younis had a good life with a government job and a decent lifestyle.

"I was a government servant and earning handsome salary, and even had owned a house," he said.

*Click play to watch Zahid Younis tell his story.
 
He never imagined leaving, but circumstances became so dangerous that he had to give up everything for his family's safety.

He sought asylum in Thailand after enduring many threats and an attack against him and his wife by Islamic extremists.

"I had a fight with the Muslims in Pakistan, and the circumstances took such a bad turn that if I had stayed there, my family and I would have been killed," he said.

Younis has been living with his wife and four children in Thailand for about two years now.

When asked about his living conditions, he burst into tears and said he is living the life of a beggar.

His children are forced to go to the Hindu temple to ask for food.

"My children beg for food, and I think every time they go, those people pity them and then hand over the food," Younis said.

Despite the extreme challenges, Younis and his wife don't want to go back to Pakistan because they fear for their lives.

"I would rather die here than to go back to Pakistan," he said. 

He laments the powerlessness of Christian NGOs and the leaders whom he believes are profiting from the asylum seekers' plight.

"What can I say about them. They come here for the photo session and then leave. We are here for sale," he said.

Asked why he doesn't apply for a visa to Western countries, he replied that it's very hard for a Pakistani Christian to get a visa to the UK, USA or any European countries.

"No other country gives us the visa. As the situation got worse, I had applied for the Thailand visa, and I got it. That's why I have come here," Younis said.

Since Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention of UNHCR, the situation is even harder for refugees seeking to start a new life. The country is already hosting asylum seekers from countries like Sri Lanka and Myanmar. However, the majority of them, like Younis, are from Pakistan.

*Lubna Thomas Benjamin, a native of Pakistan, is a freelance writer and a 2011-2012 Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow.