Bangkok: At least 96 Pakistani refugees have been released on bail from Bangkok immigration prison in an initiative spearheaded by Thai human rights activists.
The Thai Committee for Refugees had negotiated the prisoners`` release with the state National Human Rights Commission and immigration officials.
The detainees, about a third of whom were children, were arrested last year and all but two of them were granted refugee status as they were facing persecution in Pakistan.
"We are feeling very happy ... like a bird in a cage when it comes out," the Dawn quoted the freed refugee Mehmood, as saying.
The Thai committee said conditions in the detention centre were overcrowded, inhumane and unhygienic, with more than 150 people sharing cells designed for 30 to 40 people.
The freed refugees will stay in Bangkok until they resettle in another country.
ANI
