11th-hour bid to save family from threats

Published on Sunday 29 June 2008 22:24

A PAKISTANI family who sought asylum in Scotland because they received death threats over their religious beliefs are hoping that a last-minute appeal will stop their deportation tomorrow.

Asad Gull, who worked as a Christian publisher in Pakistan and arrived in the UK with his family nine months ago, lost his asylum case on a court technicality last week. He had not realised he needed to produce a letter from his wife's sister in London.

Then on Thursday, the day after the ruling, when he went to register with the police, he and his whole family were taken to Dungavel Prison without warning.

It meant his five-year-old daughter, Miriam, was taken from her P1 class at school, and his wife, Gull, and other two children, Abishir, two, and Nadab, three, were all put in confinement awaiting deportation on Tuesday.

His solicitor has since received a letter from his wife's sister and it is hoped a legal challenge will see the family's case reopened. Supporters believe if the appeal fails then they are returning to Pakistan and near certain death.

The family have been living in Pollok in Glasgow since they arrived in the UK and have been active members of two churches – the Christian Asian Fellowship and Carnwadrick Church of Scotland parish.

They are being supported by Rev Graeme Bell of Carnwadrick who said he was optimistic that the court would at least reopen the case.

"This is a desperate situation," he told The Scotsman. "We are literally talking about people's lives here.

In Pakistan if somebody converts from Islam to Christianity then they have broken the law and legally they can be put to death."

The Home Office said that they are unwilling to discuss individual cases.