Members of Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church say they faced unbearable harassment in China and sought asylum in the United States.
More than 60 self-exiled members of a Chinese Christian church who were detained in Thailand after receiving UN refugee status will be deported by next week, probably to a third country, according to officials.
Deputy National Police Chief Surachate Hakparn said on Wednesday that representatives of Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Bureau were holding talks with the UN Refugee Agency and the US Embassy to discuss the fate of the 63 members of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church who were taken to court in the coastal city of Pattaya last Friday.
“Within the next week, they will definitely be deported. What we don’t know is which country they will be deported to,” Surachate told The Associated Press.
The members of the church, also…
