A group of 63 members of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church flew to the US on Friday after being granted asylum following their arrest by Thai police for overstaying their visas two weeks ago.
The Dallas Morning News said the 63 Chinese nationals had arrived in Dallas on Friday night and would resettle in Tyler, a city in Texas. The group was greeted by Rashad Hussain, US ambassador at large with the Office of International Religious Freedom, reports said. According to the Wall Street Journal, the members of the Shenzhen-based church fled what they called “intensifying government persecution” in China three years ago.
The group of 31 adults and 32 minors arrived in Thailand last year with tourist visas, having left South Korea with dim prospects of having their asylum claim processed there. In September last year, they applied for refugee status with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Bangkok, hoping that would help them stay in the country as they waited for their asylum claim to be processed by the United States.
However, Chon Buri police and immigration officers rounded up the 63, including children, in Bang Lamung district on March 31. Reports said the group could not renew their visas in Thailand because it is required that Chinese nationals report to the Chinese Embassy.
A hearing involving 30 of the adults for overstaying in the kingdom took place at Pattaya Provincial Court on April 3. They were released on bail as requested by the UN refugee agency. The children came under the care of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.
A Texas-based nonprofit that helps people flee religious persecution, Freedom Seekers International, worked with the church to resettle its members in Tyler, east of Dallas. The US State Department also liaised with the Thai government to ensure the congregation would be sent to the US rather than China, the WSJ said.