BANGKOK: Thai authorities on Thursday convicted 70 Pakistani asylum seekers of staying illegally in Thailand despite their protestations that they face persecution if they are sent home, as police intensify a crackdown on illegal immigration.
The Taling Chan Provincial Court issued fines and up to two-month suspended jail sentences to the group, which was charged with overstaying their visas and illegal entry. An officer in charge of the case, who declined to be named because of office policy, said they will be held in a detention center until they are deported.
The group was accompanied by 11 children who will also be held in the detention center.
One of the defendants, Emmanuel Shan, said the group consists mostly of Christian Pakistanis and some Ahmadi Muslims, and that members of the two religious groups face persecution in Pakistan.
"I'm Christian and my life and family are not safe back in Pakistan," he said.
In 1984, predominately Muslim Pakistan enacted amendments to its constitution which punish Ahmadis who call themselves Muslims "or pose to be Muslims" with up to three years in prison.
Police said 52 of the defendants were arrested Tuesday after they were found to have formed a group that smuggled Pakistani asylum seekers into Thailand with the goal of reaching other countries.
Thailand regularly deports foreigners who are in the country illegally, even if they are recognized by the United Nations as refugees who are fleeing persecution.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Busadee Santipitaks said Thailand is not part of the United Nation's 1951 Refugee Convention and authorities have to act on violations of the law. She said the government deals with migrants with U.N. refugee status on a case-by-case basis.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said those who have refugee status or whose cases are being processed should not be detained.
"This is a rights-abusing populist policy that denigrates Thailand and makes Thailand look cruel," Robertson said.
On Monday, Thai authorities announced they would step up efforts to arrest foreigners without appropriate legal status.
Lt. Gen. Kongcheep Tantravanich, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, said Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan has ordered a one-month campaign to crack down on foreigners overstaying their visas.
Police Lt. Gen. Suttipong Wongpin, acting commissioner of the immigration bureau, said last week that the government had instructed police to strictly enforce the law on foreigners who violate immigration law.
Separately on Thursday, immigration police said they charged 24 foreigners with overstaying their visas and 11 others with illegal entry.
Thai authorities to deport 70 Pakistani asylum seekers
Thai authorities to deport 70 Pakistani asylum seekers
- Separately on Thursday, immigration police said they charged 24 foreigners with overstaying their visas
- Thailand regularly deports foreigners who are in the country illegally
In Peshawar, 76-year-old artist struggles to keep near-extinct Mughal wax art alive
- Craft involves intricate process using heated wax, oil, pigments, limestone to create textured, miniature artworks
- Riaz Ahmad, who has trained his son in wax art, says he hopes to train more people to preserve traditional craft
PESHAWAR: Riaz Ahmad, 76, stirs wax in a small plastic can with a long chopstick, takes it out on the palm of his left hand and adds natural color before drawing designs on a piece of cloth.
Surrounded by several such pieces of black cloth with unique art, Ahmad strives every passing day to keep the 500-year-old, Mughal-era wax art alive at his home near the Lahori Gate in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar.
Ahmad comes from a well-known family of wax artists who were based in Shillong and Darjeeling in present-day India and had migrated to Peshawar during the 1947 partition of the sub-continent.
His work remains rooted in tradition, faithfully repeating patterns passed down through generations and winning Ahmad several awards both at home and abroad in recognition of his dedication.
“I have been making the same Mughal era designs that my forefathers used to make,” he told Arab News last week.
“I went to India in 2004, where I received the UNESCO Seal of Excellence [for Handicrafts] award... On 23 March, 2012, the Government of Pakistan awarded me the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz.”
The near-extinct traditional craft, which is believed to have originated in Central Asia and refined under the Mughal patronage, particularly in Peshawar, involves an intricate process using heated wax, linseed oil, powdered pigments, and limestone to create detailed, textured and often colorful miniature artworks by hand.
Ahmad learnt wax art from his father, Miran Bakhsh, nearly six decades ago.
“My parents used to do this work in Shillong and Darjeeling [in present-day India]. They had a shop there, and after the Partition, they migrated to Peshawar, Pakistan,” he said. “When they came here, they started doing the same work.”
A basic piece of his work costs around Rs3,000 ($10.7). A larger piece made on order can fetch between Rs5,000 and Rs15,000 ($17-$53), but such orders are rare.
“Wax and colors have become expensive. When I sell a piece for Rs3,000, around Rs1,000 goes into expenses, and Rs2,000 is my daily wage,” Ahmad said.
But the 76-year-old worries more about the future of the art form, which he insists cannot be learned quickly and requires “love and dedication.”
“Some people say they want to come, some from Karachi and some from Lahore, but it becomes difficult for me to go there or for them to come here,” he said.
Most wax artists in Peshawar have abandoned the art due to a lack of institutional support, according to Ahmad, who relies primarily on exhibitions to earn a living.
“The reason [for the decline of this art form] is that the government does not pay attention. They are caught in their own conflicts, and the culture is suffering,” Ahmad said.
“Other artists have left this art. Some are selling rice and some are driving rickshaws,” he added. “I have been doing this work inside my house. If there is any event, we go there and sell our art.”
Saad Bin Awais, a spokesperson for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA), said the government has engaged artisans in several projects. He said some of these projects have come to an end while others are ongoing.
“Riaz Ahmad is the only wax artist in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the authority is serious about facilitating him,” he said, adding that the KPCTA facilitates Ahmad’s participation in exhibitions across the country to showcase his art.
“We have also been collecting data of artists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for an upcoming project to facilitate them in any way possible.”
Ahmad has trained his son, Fayyaz, in wax art who now practices it in Islamabad. The septuagenarian says he wishes to train more people to preserve the dying art form.
“I cannot leave this work,” he said. “I will continue this art even though my hands shake.”
