The December decision of the Dutch government to designate Pakistani Christians as a ‘risk group’ was welcomed by The Middle East Forum for Development (MEFD).
MEFD and the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) played a significant role in promoting legislation. MEFD organised a special hearing in this regard last March at the Dutch House of Representatives in collaboration with BPCA. The hearing focused on the potential for special status for Pakistani Christians and called upon Dutch MPs to take necessary measures in order to make the asylum process for Pakistani Christians more bearable in the Netherlands. The meeting further highlighted the issues of persecution and discrimination of people of various faiths and cultural identities in Pakistan.
In January 2013, the government of The Netherlands recognised the Ahmadiyya religious minority group of Pakistan as a ‘risk group’, but failed to grant the same special status to Pakistani Christians, despite heavy persecutions. In November 2014, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a new official report on the position of Christians and Ahmadis in Pakistan.
