Oppressed Pakistani Minority Finds Refuge in China

A small group of Pakistanis who have been discriminated and mistreated have found refuge in China. They left their homes to find a safer place to live. The group reported that every day they heard gunfire and anything could have happened to them as their lives were in danger. Some of the group members are Mehdi, Wahid, Yasir, Saeed, Moeed, Sarim and Asif. The troubled Pakistanis were reported to be praying every day. They are among hundreds of people who have come to China. Some also include from unsafe and dangerous countries such as Somalia and Iraq.

The Chinese government knows of their existence but provides no help for the oppressed. Many Human Rights groups have been speaking against China for the exiling of many discriminated who come from countries like North Korea to live a peaceful life. Among the 500 UN registered refuge seekers in China, 35 belong from the Ahmadi group which believes their legendary leader to be a prophet and they also believe that Christ died at the age of 120 in Indian ruled Kashmir. The Ahmadi group is one of the most hated sects in Pakistan. It is in a minority and according to the extremists the group members cannot be called Muslims and cannot perform Hajj.  Incidents have occurred at regular intervals such as the 2010 militants attack on the Ahmadi prayer hall killing 82 people and then the attack on the hospital where the militants were treated. The worship places and graveyards of this group are always discriminated. Even the high achievers are ignored.

China is blamed by US on religion restrictions causing tension mainly in Buddhist-majority areas and Xinjiang, Muslim majority area. One of the refugees enjoys the life in China calling it peaceful and safe. Most of the refugees have settled themselves in Sanhe. They don’t receive any donations from China or get registered for it as even after UN order it still refuses the refugees to live in it. Another refugee named Laiba was enjoying China. She acknowledges the safety and a peaceful place to live. The main problem for most of the refugees is that they are jobless. China signed up to the UN’s refugee protocol in 1982, but does not have any system to handle their identities, leaving it to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The law of refugees is yet to be enforced in China so many people still come freely to it.

The experts have stated the main reasons for the coming of refugees, which is political asylum. China isn’t harsh towards the Pakistani refugees as it is a close ally which helped Pakistan in its war with India. Its relations with North Korea remains strained which causes many North Korean refugees to be exiled. Many refugees have come leaving their families such as Yasir who left his wife. Many refugees still are living a hopeless life and are receiving mind torture by thinking about the big problems they have carried a long way so far.