43,000 sign petition for family

More than 43,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Home Office not to deport two teenage brothers from Scotland.

Areeb Umeed Bakhsh, 13, and his brother Somer, 15, fear Islamic extremists will kill them if they return to Pakistan.

The brothers have lived in Glasgow since their family fled Pakistan in 2012 after their father was subjected to death threats due to his Christian faith.

The UK Government has repeatedly rejected the family’s asylum applications because officials do not believe they would be at risk in Pakistan.

The Rt Rev Susan Brown, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, said: “Tens of thousands of people want their names to count in the campaign to allow the Bakhsh family to stay in Scotland.

“This is a family who call this country home and the uncertainty they are living with is cruel.”

The boys’ father Masqood believes the people responsible for shooting dead two Christians outside a court in Faisalabad, Pakistan, know who he is and would kill him and his family given the chance.

He said they believe he is in league with the two men who were shot after being accused of writing a pamphlet critical of the Prophet Muhammad.

The 50-year-old said it was “amazing” that more than 43,700 people to date have signed the 38 Degrees petition.