BPCA has received a second request for help with a retirement visa for an elderly Pakistani Christian asylum seeker forced to apply for the visa to avoid
arrest.
Sarafina Sarfaraz arrived in Thailand on the 9th January 2014 after selling her home and leaving everything she knew behind to flee Islamic persecution.
Sarafina’s problems began when her brother-in-law Ejaz Akhtar converted to Islam to marry a Muslim girl he fell in love with, and then joined a very
fundamental sect. At first he tried to convert her family through regular visits during which he tried to persuade them to change faith. He seemed
totally brainwashed and zealous and it frightened the family.
However when Sarafina and her family repeatedly refused to convert the brother-in-law who was now called Mohammed Ejaz sent others to finish of his
work. The groups of zealots that got involved attempted to convert the family through force and became increasingly brutal..
Members of the family were attacked regularly especially when alone and outside the home. However one day during a discussion the zealots started
to beat Sarafina’s husband and her son within their home, and threatened to accuse them of blasphemy. The family felt they had no choice but
to flee the long time home and got some help and advice from local churches. They then flew to Thailand and began a torturous existence in a
country unwilling to help them.
A local Pakistani pastor Ben Ani helped her husband and Sarafina obtain a retirement visa to avoid arrest from the brutal Thai police and immigration
department – who are still arresting Christians with valid UNHCR asylum status.
Sarafina is a prayerful Christian woman who believes will take her out of her current predicament. However she has asked for Christians to pray for
her and the thousands of other Pakistani Christian asylum seekers who are being ignored by nations in the west and the UNHCR.
Pastor Ani has now left Thailand and the family cannot afford to obtain a visa renewal for Sarafina without help. The cost of the renewal is £500 and we have initiated an appeal to support Sarafina. If you would like to donate towards the cost of a visa please (click here).
Please sign our petition (click here)