Washington DC: February 15, 2016. (PCP) On February 12, 2016, the Pakistan Christian Congress and other NGOs held a productive meeting with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Thailand in Washington D.C., on the issue of Pakistan Christian asylum seekers who have fled to Thailand. The meeting attendees included Ms. Thanida Menasavet, Counselor for Human Rights and Social Issues for the Kingdom of Thailand Embassy, Dr. Nazir Bhatti of the Pakistan Christian Congress, and Jeffrey Imm with Responsible for Equality And Liberty (REAL). Dr. Bhatti and Jeffrey Imm also represented the NGO, Center for Pakistan Christian Human Rights, Inc. (CPHRI). At the meeting, we shared information on the current status of Pakistan Christian asylum seekers, their situation in Thailand, and the institutional and systemic human rights violations, violent oppression, and persecution such Christian minorities face in Pakistan including the use of the official "blasphemy" law to harass and falsely imprison Pakistan Christians, burning and mob attacks on Christian neighborhoods, kidnapping and forced conversion of Christian girls, attacks on Christian churches, and violence and persecution (including burning alive) of Christian men, women, and children. We described the current situation of why Pakistan Christian asylum seekers fled to Thailand in a desperate attempt to seek safety, security, human rights, and religious freedom. We described the extreme delays and unnecessary difficulties which we have seen from the UNCHR Thailand office in granting refugee status to these Pakistan Christian asylum seekers. We described the hardship, economic consequences, and the unfair situation in forcing such refugees into having to fear Thailand Immigration Detention authorities because of such delays in refugee requests, extending beyond the period Pakistan Christian refugees' visas. We described the consequential round-ups of such innocent, law-abiding refugees and putting them in Immigration Detention Centres as though they were criminals. While Thai Counselor Thanida Menasavet was generally informed on the overall challenges for Pakistan Christian refugees, she sought additional details on specific issues. Regarding the issue of bail for Pakistan Christian refugees put in the Bangkok Immigration Detention Centre, the counselor indicated that she would talk to her government on the issue to ensure that bail would be available for Pakistan Christian refugees who were arrested and put in Immigration Detention Centres. Dr. Nazir Bhatti advised the counselor that there were such refugees not getting bail. Dr. Bhatti also described how other Southeast Asia countries were handling similar Pakistan Christian refugee issues and indicated that such round-ups of refugees was not a common practices in these other nations. Thai Counselor Thanida Menasavet also agreed to follow up with the UNHCR on the delays in getting refugee applications processed, and indicated the Thai government was also frustrated with these delays and had previously talked to the UNHCR on this. Jeffrey Imm of REAL indicated that he would provide additional information to the counselor regarding the UNHCR Resettlement Handbook requirements, which require that the UNHCR provide a reasonable "benefit of the doubt" to refugee seekers in their applications and details of the reasons for the seeking refugee status. Jeffrey Imm told the counselor that he had clearly seen that this policy was not being consistently followed, and that this was likely a large factor in the delay of Pakistan Christian refugee application processing. In addition, Thai Counselor Thanida Menasavet agreed to follow up with the Thai government on other possibilities regarding seeing if there was a way to extend Pakistan Christian refugee visas to be consistent with the timeline for the UNHCR refugee status determination or discuss if there was some other way, such as our suggestion that immigration authorities not round up refugees for arrest who could demonstrate their UNHCR refugee registration. Thai Counselor Thanida Menasavet also indicated that the Kingdom of Thailand has complex issues of its own, and as a small nation which finds many people in a nature of transit either to Thailand or ultimately to other nations; she stated that Thailand also has challenges in trying to find the right solution for each group of refugees. On behalf of the Thai government, she urged the public to be patient with its efforts to try to make the best decisions for the overall welfare and human rights for all. The Pakistan Christian Congress, REAL, and CPCHRI all expressed their gratitude to the Thai government in meeting with them on these issues, and agreed to follow up with the Thai government for any further discussions. We also expressed gratitude to the Thai government for its shelter of Pakistan Christian refugees from extremists and indicated that we would do whatever we can to help in finding a common solution for all.