Members of exiled Chinese church detained in Thailand
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
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — More than 60 self-exiled members of a Chinese Christian church who were detained in Thailand paid fines for overstaying their visas but remained in police custody Saturday 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 were taken to court Friday in the resort city of Pattaya after being detained a day earlier by Thai immigration authorities. The 32 members of the group considered to be adults were charged with overstaying their visas, said Col. Tawee Kutthalaeng, chief of the Pattaya-area Nong Prue police station. Two American citizens who were with the group and briefly held had not been placed under arrest, he said.
After being fined, the church members had expected to be released to be able to return to where they had been staying in the area, said Deana Brown, one of two American supporters who accompanied them. Brown said she has been working to resettle the church members in Tyler, Texas, where her organization is based.
However, they were put on two buses which first took them to the Pattaya office of the immigration police and then drove them to Bangkok for what a police officer told The Associated Press was normal processing of their case.
