Help a Persecuted Christian Family Resettle

I am posting this fundraiser on behalf of my close friend Nathan who is an American living in Thailand. I met him while my son and I were living in Thailand and I was working as a teacher, from 2018-2020. He has been helping a Pakistani family with their application for asylum in Canada- as they fled their country to escape religious persecution. The full story from Nathan is below. Thank you for any support that you may be able to offer this family- as their new life is so close to becoming a reality. They just need to overcome this one, final hurdle.

Nathan's account of their first meeting and the family's continued struggles to resettle in a free country:

I first met Sonail in a busy café in central Bangkok in 2018. He was in obvious distress. I watched as he approached some of the clientele who ignored his flustered attempts at starting a conversation. He moved on, arriving at my table and in a rushed and anxious panic simply asked for help. I don’t know precisely why, but I immediately knew that this man was both sincere and in real trouble. I invited him to take a seat, ordered him a coffee, and asked him to take a breath and share his story.

Sonail, who went by the nickname “Sunny” fled Pakistan in 2015 with his wife Maria and three young children under threat of imminent death. Their crime was refusing to convert from Christianity to Islam. Before their escape, members of his family were abducted and assaulted. Their home was taken from them, and they were forced to flee their village. The family stayed briefly with relatives in nearby towns. But no one would dare shelter them for long as the danger was too great. There was an active and widespread network of fanatics with orders to kill the family.

After finding refuge with a church in Islamabad, the family was provided with tickets and tourist visas to Thailand – with the hopes that somehow from there they would be able to find asylum in the West. They arrived in March 2015 with little in the way of money or resources. When their visas expired a few months later, they had to go into hiding. Even though they were recognized by the UNHCR as refugees, under Thai law if found they would be jailed and deported back to Pakistan. They moved between various small apartments and survived thanks to the goodwill of local churches and NGOs.

Sunny had been given the details of a priest in Canada who was willing to sponsor the family’s asylum application, but it was up to Sunny to navigate the daunting application process. Without fluency in English and access to a computer, scanner, and printer, this task was impossible. So, I took it upon myself to assist. In early 2021, almost three years after the application was submitted, Sunny and Maria attended the video interview with the Canadian authorities that would decide their fate. The caseworker was in a hurry, interrupted them frequently, and flippantly rejected their application. The family was despondent but didn’t give up.

I assisted with their appeal and a year later in April of 2022 they were granted a second interview. This time the caseworker listened closely and gave the couple the time they needed to articulate the details of their long journey. The appeal was approved on the spot. Sunny called me within minutes of the decision. He was in tears, overwhelmed with joy and gratitude. That night Sunny went to sleep and did not wake up. The coroner concluded that he had suffered a cardiac arrest. His body was returned to Pakistan for burial. His family was heartbroken but has persevered.

In May 2023, the family was finally issued travel documents to Canada. They will begin their new life in London, Ontario. Their flight departs from Bangkok on July 12, 2023. However, since they have all overstayed their Thai visas by many years, they will not be permitted to leave the country without paying a fine of approximately USD 600 each with the alternative being jail. Please help with what you can to ensure that the family is able to depart Thailand. Any funds raised over the goal will be given to the family to help them start their new lives in Canada.