Here's another story orignally published on our webstie.

This series is a photographic record of people who strive to live a life of freedom, but who are currently in a statelessness chapter of time in their lives. They can only recall memories of when things were good in their homeland and how life use to be, before they became targets of persecution.

Cities and towns across the world have become home to millions of people trying to escape violence and persecution. People are targeted for their religious beliefs, social status, race, gender, nationality, and ongoing conflict. In the city of Bangkok, the ongoing surge of asylumseekers has increased significantly in the last few years. Most people have to wait three years or more for their application interview and most likely it will be pushed ahead a number of times and then they may have to wait up to 12 months after that to be resettled in a different country.

After tourist visas expire, most individuals are not prepared for the long grim process of dealing with the challenging conditions, little financial or medical support, uncertainty, and day to day fear of being discovered. Furthermore, urban asylumseekers may have more freedom than those in camps, but they are more exposed and vulnerable to arrest and imprisonment. Many people are forced to live together in a small one room apartment, sharing a mattress and using a propane burner to cook whatever food they have.

The idea of stepping out from the shadows and entering into the light of day without fear becomes almost an unrealistic hope for many people who are seeking asylum in Bangkok.

https://steemitimages.com/DQmUESyY6oJbrV9tZjRAhWy8Y5FNTra9b6BYJtTnt4EsV92/UAS-1.jpg Rashid, 25, an asylum-seeker from Karachi, Pakistan, spends most of his time inside his room. He suffered a head injury from a machete attack and his family received daily death threats by local extremist groups targeting Christians, they decided to sell everything and leave Pakistan. Rashid, his mother and two sisters have been seeking asylum in Bangkok for almost a year and a half. They wait for their visa application interview.

https://steemitimages.com/DQmWTSxHTYMSZmvzUcLhkHwK92m4avYaH9324HUS4P6XAZc/UAS-2.jpg Dawood, an asylum-seeker from Lahore, Pakistan. He arrived in December 2013. He is Ahmadi Muslim. After receiving constant death threats he and his family was forced to leave his homeland. Ahmadi Muslims are a religious minority who is often targeted and discriminated against by other Muslims living in Pakistan. His visa application interview is December 2016.

https://steemitimages.com/DQmRuwH1U3mXgW3Yzi4hYfDzqXdhEQQZ8d9d43SxPUZLpRz/UAS-3.jpg

https://steemitimages.com/DQmdGLCu9C8asYuLxy6S3RKC3ToKPFdRBEAvomStFmEr7LM/UAS-4.jpg Abdul, 50, from Parwan Province, Afghanistan. He has been seeking asylum in Bangkok for about six months. He was forced to leave his homeland after his father and brother were gunned down by the Taliban. The main reason that he and his family are targeted, is because they had a successful family business. His visa application interview is in October 2016.

https://steemitimages.com/DQmPmXWnHg8LNJysRfguqo3nkUeoKzJaMyz8dvX4QERvona/UAS-5.jpg

https://steemitimages.com/DQmQ5Ymvxk28aQmHmAVxp44jaCh8WwKAAVcGPWyjnjMypaA/UAS-6.jpg A view of the city of Bangkok from a low income building that houses many different people who are seeking asylum from their country. The rooms have very little air flow which makes it extremely hot all day.

https://steemitimages.com/DQmahMphP3SMQYov9qnxTFhL76LXhpStsdrcHCZECQy7ZHN/UAS-7.jpg Sakeena, an asylum-seeker from Lahore, Pakistan, and mother of Asad, 22, who was arrested for having an expired visa at a nearby seven eleven store on the outskirts of Bangkok. He has been detained for 5 months inside the Immigration Detention Center. Sakeena and her husband wait patiently inside their room, hoping to receive any news regarding their son. They were recently scheduled for their visa application interview, but it was pushed ahead another six months.

https://steemitimages.com/DQmQ5zzRhpPCbohSCe3H3d9qn2tp2U4x1r6qevLXLpYsvuc/UAS-8.jpg

https://steemitimages.com/DQmQpi9da8HYbitMUshaCsSEHHaTRiNN24SfAFA72cU4fDY/UAS-9.jpg Shamba, 21, an asylum seeker from Somalia living in Bangkok for 18 months. He lives with his two friends inside a very small one room apartment, not far from one of the main buildings. They can't work due to their expired visas, so food and medical assistance is often very difficult to find. Shamba was forced to leave Somalia after he was targeted as the minority and received constant death threats from other tribes in the region. His visa application interview is in July 2015. He is excited but very nervous that his application will be pushed ahead another 6 months.

Brian Driscoll is a documentary photographer from New York, USA. He is a graduate of the documentary and photojournalism program at The International Center of Photography, where he was a recipient of the Director’s Fellowship and most recently the Rita K. Hillman Foundation Fellowship. His work has been exhibited at festivals and galleries nationally and internationally such as powerHouse arena in Brooklyn and the Multimedia Art Museum in Moscow, Russia - http://brianjdriscoll.com/

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