Three children made homeless by the cruel and avaricious Royal Thai Government have been provided a home by the BPCA, after their chosen Guardian sought
assistance in providing safety for the young vulnerable children.
We reported on the 7 children BPCA volunteer Maqsood retrieved from the IDC earlier. Two were handed to an aunt and uncle and two to their father (click here)
4 years ago Farzan Joseph and his family fled the city of Karachi for the shores of Thailand to escape the persecution they were facing in their
homeland of Pakistan. Farzan Joseph had good secure employment working as a technician in a hospital laboratory in the world famous Agha Khan Hospital,
his wife Lubna worked as a nurse at the same hospital.
Farzan and Lubna cruelly separated from their children.
The couple enjoyed their work and had studied hard to achieve professional qualifications to enable to take up their chosen profession in the field
of medicine and to enable them to help suffering patients.
Unfortunately for the couple, a Muslim employees son discovered they adhered to the Christian faith and started challenging them to convert to
Islam. Lubna was approached on several occasions by men demanding she embrace Islam and attempted to force her to marry one of their Muslim colleagues
who had taken a shine to her – even though she was a married woman. Mrs Joseph refused the advances and declared her love for her husband and her strong
faith in Jesus but this did nothing to deter the zealots and their enamoured friend.
The levels of threats to Mrs Joseph became extremely frequent and to protect his wife Farzan felt he had no choice but to leave his home and livelihood
behind and fled Pakistan with his wife and three children Annya Farzan (6 yrs) Sara Farzan (10 yrs) and Cyrus Farzan (12 yrs) . Farzan explained
to BPCA that if he stayed in Pakistan he and his wife would be easy to locate as their work is very specialized, there would be no where in the country
they could hide without losing the ability to use the skills they had spent so many years learning and honing. Moreover working in a hospital
and providing care to others was for them a deep passion and often an opportunity for them to share their faith with others.
The family fled to Thailand to start a new life and wanted to build a new life there, they rented a room in Onnut, Bangkok and tried to find a way
to gain citizenship. They soon discovered that for them citizenship in Thailand was nigh on impossible and they began to search for other options,
eventually applying to the UNHCR for relocation in the West determined to escape the nightmare they would face on return to Pakistan.
After a long period of struggle during which the family survived on charitable handouts from churches, fellow Pakistanis, charities and some exploitative
cash-in-hand work, Mrs Joseph eventually secured employment working at a school name ”Mother’s Pride.” Not only was the pay scale a lot better then
the previous illegal employments she and her husband had undertaken but it was a very rewarding experience for her, where she felt she could use her
years of learning to good effect. Moreover the icing on the cake was the fact that Mrs Joseph was able to enroll her children at the school,
which was very satisfying as for the three years that her children were out of school she rued her situation that had led to her children facing an
educational deficit.
Life had become very settled for the family until a police and immigration raid at 12:30 on 23rd January 2018 brought the family’s life crashing down
on their heads again. Mr and Mrs Joseph were arrested with their children despite Royal Thai Government public announcements that no more children
would be detained in their Immigration Detention Centre.
the brutal unforgiving IDC. With the help of BPCA volunteer Maqsood a fine was paid and the children were set free and presented to the chosen
guardian Rev George Naz, who himself fled Pakistan giving up a stable life, after being targeted by extremists for standing up for the rights of minorities
(click here). George Naz who has successfully gained refugee
status determination with the UNHCR is a close friend and neighbour of Farzan and his family.
BPCA has helped George Naz and the children by renting a room in a condo in area of Thailand where BPCA is running a free school. The children are
living safely with their guardian and will continue their schooling too. We have obtained a criminal record check for George Naz from Pakistan
and are satisfied with the contents, we have taken up references for him and he has agreed that our officer Annie will have access to the children
to gauge their health and well being independently. We are also in the process of getting signed affidavits from the parents of the children
confirming that they are happy for George to care for the children. George has met officers from UNHCR who are satisfied that he is caring well
for the children and will also be monitoring the situation.
Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, said:
“We live in a cruel world one in which children are often made to suffer, however the nature of the wrenching apart of this family is deeply saddening because of the cold actions of a state, that has no compassion.
“Farzan and his family have had to suffer the ignominy of leaving their secure employment – honourable careers that they had studied many years for. They have had to leave their home and families behind to seek freedom and safety in a strange and foreign land. However on their arrival they have found they are equally hated in their new nation.
“This family have now lost their latest home after a sense of security had been derived through the attainment of a well paid job by Mrs Joseph, now their already deplorable situation has worsened as the parents have had to make the toughest decision they will ever have to make as they suffer a brutal incarceration, far away from their children who they will now see sparingly, if at all until they either return to Pakistan a place of torment or gain a bail reprieve.
“As a father of three it is difficult to restrain my anger at their situation, but rather than vent we have sent an email to the Thai Government calling for freedom for the mother of the children, that this young family might gain some solace. We ask you all to pray over their situation and to see God release them from the torment they have suffered for so long.”
normal and comfortable as possible. They are exhibiting signs of trauma and it is hard for them to be without their parents but the brave children
are mentally blocking their pain and are carrying on their lives as best they can, whilst their parents seek a solution.
Farzan and his family are seeking an exit from the IDC and hope to fly back to Pakistan bust need the costs for flights which will be around £500 each for all five family members and 20,000 baht (£450) fines for each adult to return home. If you would like to help them return to Pakistan to be reunited with their children please (click here).
If you would like to help us provide for these children and their guardian whilst the parents seek an exit from their captivity and freedom from the hate awaiting them in Pakistan, then please donate by clicking (here)
Please sign our petition (click here)