London: October 2, 2015. (PCP) The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has just replied to a series of questions about Pakistani Christian refugees (the questions and responses are listed at bottom of this post), particularly in Thailand, tabled by Lord Alton several weeks ago following on from a visit to Thailand to see for himself which was sparked by a conversation with the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA). These answers reveal that the UK government says it does not itself know the number of Pakistani Christians who have fled to Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka through fear of persecution, but, according to the FCO, they continually press the Pakistani government to meet international law obligations, including those relating to religious minorities in Pakistan. Lord Alton asked several questions regarding the conditions in Thailand’s immigration detention centres and prisons where Pakistani Christians are held, including children, the elderly, nursing mothers and the like; the FCO replied that they couldn’t be specific about where Pakistani Christians are held, nor had they assessed the relative conditions of such detention centres with the wider Thai prison system, but that in general when they visit to help British citizens in both these systems, the conditions are poor, and confirmed women and children are detained in those poor conditions. They say they have raised their concerns with the Thai justice minister and senior officials, and that Thai officials have ‘shown themselves willing to cooperate on work to improve prison conditions’ in prisons generally, and that they also regularly meet with UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) about assisting in their work, ‘including around conditions of detention’. Lord Alton also asked questions about the length of time taken by UNHCR to process claims, and the length of time taken to resettle such refugees, as well as asking the FCO whether they plan to work with the British Council to look at ways of assisting Pakistani Christian children to receive schooling and educational opportunities whilst their asylum cases are being considered. The FCO replied that they are helping UNHCR in their requests for the Thai government to develop documentation that would enable refugee children to be educated whilst their claims are being processed. They said the UNHCR says cases take between a few months and several years to be assessed, that most claims by Pakistanis are successful, but then the time taken for resettlement varies widely. Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the BPCA commented, "We thank Lord Alton both for his visit, and for raising these questions. Pakistani Christians seeking resettlement as refugees in Thailand have to endure absolutely horrific conditions, they live in a climate of profound fear, and there have been numerous preventable deaths because of their inability to access work or medical treatment and care. We understand in some cases it is taking as long as a decade to get resettled, which is not acceptable. Moreover, reporting that the majority of Pakistani Christians are successful with their applications seem rather fallacious, considering a majority are actually pending a decision. We call on the FCO and UNHCR to redouble efforts in this regard, noting in particular that given the long timescales and that most are apparently getting refugee status, the lack of education means that these Christians are being denied the opportunity to contribute to the host society and economy as much as they could, and we urge the Thai government to move quickly to change this situation, because the short term costs would be outweighed by the long term benefits. These Pakistani Christian refugees have among them a high proportion of doctors, lawyers, teachers and other professionals who would be eager to contribute to Thai society and economy, but they can’t do that if they are forced to scrap for illegal work, and their children will not be able to do so as effectively as they could otherwise do if they continue to be denied educational opportunities as they are now. The BPCA stands ready to offer what assistance we can, and we are already supporting a school to help without any cost to the Thai Treasury."