South Asian Refugees: Bangladesh & Pakistan (part 4)

Bangladesh’s Refugee Stats:

• Bangladesh is officially home to 32,000 Muslim Royhingya refugees who have fled Myanmar to escape discriminatory treatment by the Buddhist majority

• Sheltered in 2 official camps in Cox Bazaar, Bangladesh, these refugees live in appalling conditions

• Another 200,000 believed to be in unofficial camps

Pakistan’s Refugee Stats:

• With 1.6 million refugees, Pakistan is the 2nd largest host nation of refugees in the world after Turkey (10.5 percent of the global refugee population)

• Most of the refugees are of Afghan origin

• As a result of years of violent conflict, 1,162,248 individuals are presently internally displaced in Pakistan

• Since January 2016, over 7000 Pakistanis have sought refuge in Europe owing to insurgencies and threats by extremists

• Over 4000 Pakistani Christians are seeking asylum in Thailand as refugees owing to religious persecution

**This material was presented at a recent refugee conference in Toronto by Rev. Godfrey Yogarajah, the Chairman of the Board of the International Institute for Religious Freedom and Executive Director of the Religious Liberty Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance.

Note: Consider reaching South Asian families with ‘Magdalena: Released from Shame’ – South Asian Languages, presenting Jesus from a new perspective.