ICC Note: As this group of 60 Chinese seeking asylum in Netherlands has shown, Christian refugees come not only from nations torn by civil war or from nations without great infrastructure or government accountability. They may come simply from areas where their right to practice their faith is revoked without hesitation: China is one such place. What is interesting about this case is the claim that some of these asylum seekers may not even be Christians; they are just using the term to give them greater justification for their request. There is much implication from this – the mere reality of being “Christian” tells governments that there is a good chance to believe that the asylum seeker has probably suffered. Whatever the backstories are for each of these Chinese seeking freedom, we hope that they will be granted the chance to pursue Christ freely in Netherlands.

8/10/2016 China (Crux) – Sixty Chinese refugees have asked for political asylum in the Czech Republic on the basis that being Christian exposes them to persecution. Though Chinese media have cast doubt on whether they’re really believers, it’s nevertheless a reminder of the complex global nature of anti-Christian threats.

So far at the Rio Olympics, Team China is having a pretty good run, lagging behind only the United States in the overall medal count and tied with the U.S. for first place in golds. A story out of the Czech Republic on Monday, however, confirms that China isn’t performing nearly as well in terms of its record on religious freedom.

According to reports in both the Czech and the Chinese media, 60 Chinese migrants claiming to be Christians from 10 different denominations, all fearing persecution back home, have applied for political asylum. It’s the largest such request by a group of Chinese refugees in the history of the Czech Republic.

One is obliged to say “claiming” to be Christian because Chinese press reports tried to cast doubt on whether the asylum-seekers really are believers, suggesting they’re simply illegal immigrants using religion as a pretext. Officials from the Chinese embassy in Prague are said to be looking into the situation.

The 60 migrants are being held at two different Czech detention centers, and, according to a report by Radio Prague, they’re under unusually heavy protection, saying they fear recrimination against family members who remain in China.

Even if it turns out that these 60 folks aren’t genuinely Christian, it’s still revealing that they chose Christianity as their rationale for requesting asylum. It suggests that when many Chinese think “persecution” these days, they think of the country’s rapidly growing Christian minority.

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