Image shows Thai Pastor Papa Thongchai and mama Thaongchai with Wilson Chowdhry after they met in the Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok during December.
On the 26th December British Pakistani Christian Association delivered food parcels and treats for children to the Immigration Detention Centre in
Thailand where 48 Pakistani Christian asylum seekers with live UNCHR applications have been detained, 17 of whom are children.
The gifts were well received by inmates of the notorious IDC which featured in a BBC documentary last year. The documentary revealed the cramming
of hundreds of asylum seekers in rooms fit for a few dozen. Moreover they highlighted poor health of detainees due to a lack of hygiene and poor
medical care and food that consisted of boiled rice and cucumber twice a day.
In order to remind the beleagured Christian community of the joy of Christmas, we not only provided them food for them to enjoy a communal Christmas
meal and prayers, but also added some short bible studies, Children’s bible activities and a communal prayer for them to read together.
The food was cooked by Pakistani Christian asylum seekers, which saved us some costs and earned them an income. Moreover, it was delivered by
an Ahmadi and a Christian Pakistani volunteers who both had work visas. So it was quite an achievement by way of the manner in which our new officer
Kat has been able to get the community working together to help their own.
We hope to make this food distribution a regular event and the cost of feeding all the detainees is £50. We would like to make these visits twice
a month so are seeking donations that will help cover the costs of £100 per month. We would also like to deliver Urdu bibles to each person inside
the IDC. The only delivery company that will allow us to post bibles from Pakistan to Thailand is charging us £200. We have already printed
enough bibles for this work and seek help with these transport costs. If you would like to contribute please (click here)
