Members of exiled Chinese church detained in Thailand

Published March 30, 2023 10:44 PM

By TIAN MACLEOD JI and DAVID RISING
Associated Press

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — More than 60 self-exiled members of a Chinese Christian church who were detained in Thailand have paid fines for overstaying their visas but remain in police custody uncertain about their legal status amid fears they would be deported against their will to their home country, where they face possible persecution. The 63 members of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church came to Thailand in 2022 seeking refugee status. The church members had expected to be released after they were fined Friday in the seaside city of Pattaya. However, they were put on two buses which drove them to a police detention facility in Bangkok, for what a police officer said was normal processing of their case.

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