Church takes up case of deportation family

THE Church of Scotland has called on the Home Office to halt the deportation of a Pakistani Christian family refused asylum in Scotland after a mix-up over documents needed to support their case.

Asad and Gullrukh Gul and their three children fled their home 11 months ago for a new life in the UK but are now due to be deported on Tuesday.

Yesterday, Ian Galloway, Convenor of the Church of Scotland's Church and Society Council, claimed the deportation contravened asylum principles and said their case should be re-examined.

The family – the children are aged five, three and 18 months – left Pakistan because of sustained persecution from Islamic extremists, and have been living in the Carnwadric area of Glasgow.

Pastor Frederick D'Costa of the Asian Christian Fellowship, which provides material and spiritual support to Christian refugees from Asia, said the family had become targets because Mr Gul worked as a printer producing Christian literature. He said Gul had been accused of blasphemy and would face the death penalty if deported, while his children would be placed in the care of a Muslim family.

Graham Bell, the Minister of Carnwadric Church, said the asylum application had failed partly because Mrs Gul's sister, who successfully obtained asylum under the same criteria and now lives in London, failed to provide a statement of support because of a misunderstanding. The statement has since been submitted, but unless there is a last-minute intervention by the Home Office, the family will be deported.

Now the Church of Scotland has added its support to calls for a review. Speaking on behalf of the Church, Galloway said: "There are two issues of principle upheld in the General Assembly that seem to stand out in this case. One is that two siblings have had radically different outcomes in asylum claim.

"It is these apparent inconsistencies that lead to serious questioning of the asylum system by ordinary people. And the second is that of not putting children in danger."

Galloway added: "There could be a serious flaw in the process. We need to see if the issue that determines what happens to this family is a question of whether or not a form is filled out correctly."