Human rights groups warned the Daily Caller News Foundation that Chinese Christians living as refugees in Thailand now risk prosecution and repatriation to China. This is following a police raid shortly before dawn.
Christian Persecution Currently Happening in Thailand
Deana Brown, 68, started the Freedom Seekers International.
Brown informed the DCNF while detained by Thai authorities that Thai police have been supposedly hauling the 63 representatives of the Shenzhen Church, also recognized as the Mayflower Church, to Bangkok for repatriation to the People’s Republic of China.
Together with churchgoers, Thai authorities also detained Brown and another Texan, Stacy Nichols, 51, who just landed in Patayya, Thailand on Thursday to spend a seven-day stay with the community.
Authorities also took their passports, according to Brown.
Thailand has arrested dozens of Christians from China’s “Mayflower Church,” a group fleeing persecution and awaiting resettlement in the US. https://t.co/q8EdloqnIm
— Daniel Silliman (@danielsilliman) April 3, 2023
The Mayflower Church, headed by Pastor Pan Yongguang, fled from CCP-inflicted religious persecution in October 2019. Pastor Pan informed the DCNF in March 2022 that the church planned to relocate to Jeju Island, South Korea, where Chinese nationals wouldn’t need a visa to enter.
The Mayflower Church started to seek refuge in Thailand once more in August 2022 after many years of unsuccessful attempts by the South Korean authorities to do so, as per ChinaAid.
The government of #Thailand should ensure that 63 recently detained Christian Chinese asylum seekers are not returned to #China, where they face persecution, torture, and other serious harm. https://t.co/ygXkQanwc2
— Wenzel Michalski (@WenzelMichalski) April 1, 2023
Brown called the DCNF on Friday morning while riding in a Thai police car heading north from a courtroom in Pattaya and said he thinks they are getting abducted.
Approximately 25 Thai police officers showed up at the church’s address immediately after she and Nichols landed in Patayya on Thursday morning. They detained churchgoers for exceeding their visa limits, according to Brown.
This is Terrifying
Brown informed the DCNF that Mayflower Members of the congregation are frightened and she is nervous about their well-being, noting she’s additionally “worried for Stacy and me at this time.”
Nichols claimed during this trying time, they are just trying to keep their faith in God.
This article appeared in The Patriot Brief and has been published here with permission.
