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11:27am Sunday 1st July 2007
A FAMILY of asylum seekers who fought a long battle to stay in the country were deported on Saturday night.
But supporters of the Karim family have vowed to continue the fight and hope to have them brought back from Pakistan, the country they fled because they feared for their lives due to their Catholic faith.
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Have the Karims been treated unfairly? Add your comments below.
Police and immigration officials detained Nigel, 53, Pearl, 44 and children Calvin, 12 and Crystal, 14, after a dawn swoop at their former home, in Arthur Street, Nelson, last Wednesday.
They were taken to a holding centre near to Heathrow Airport and, despite last-ditch efforts by their solicitor for a reprieve, they were flown out to Karachi at 8.30pm on Saturday.
Pearl's brother Patrick Samuels, who lives in Sheffield but has been staying in Nelson to help with the situation, said: "I would just like to thank the community, their friends and the church for the support that we have received.
"This is not the end. We will continue to fight for them to come back. The community is going to work and everyone is going to put their heads together to get them back here.
"It is not going to be easy for them. It is the place that they fled.
"We don't know what the protocol is for when they are handed over to immigration officers at Karachi.
"They may be arrested and interrogated.
"There is no accommodation there for them and they will be at the mercy of friends who might take them in."
The Karims came to this country in 2002 claiming asylum.
In May they were given 30 days to leave after a judicial review was rejected by the High Court and a letter from Pendle MP Gordon Prentice to immigration minister Liam Byrne was dismissed.
Residents of Nelson, friends and teachers at the children's schools and parishioners from their church Holy Saviour, campaigned for the Karims to stay.
Refused, Blackburn says...
3:21pm Sun 1 Jul 07
sal, says...
7:38pm Sun 1 Jul 07
BLT, Blackburn says...
9:13pm Sun 1 Jul 07
Refused, Blackburn says...
10:48pm Sun 1 Jul 07
Pippins, Blackburn says...
10:54pm Sun 1 Jul 07
Gareth Parkinson, haslingdon says...
12:37am Mon 2 Jul 07
Gareth Parkinson, haslingdon says...
12:48am Mon 2 Jul 07
BLT wrote:BLT your quite an idiot. The last time i looked it was our country blowing families up in Afghanistan and Iraq. Why is it that our lives are worth more than theirs? The pakistani's were very peaceful and hospitable towards me despite our country's illegal wars in their muslim countries.
sal and Refused; EXCELLENT to see that the pair of you are SO brainwashed! PAKISTAN...A PEACEFUL,FUN-LOVING COUNTRY?! One too many Halal curries after far too many nights out on the p,iss?! Where the h.ell have YOU two been for the past 20 years?! Pakistan has been harbouring terrorists that are more than willing to blow the h.ell out of you and your families...You sad b.astards...
Appalled, Pendle says...
3:54pm Mon 2 Jul 07
ana, yorkshire says...
4:13pm Mon 2 Jul 07
anon, east lancs says...
11:50am Wed 4 Jul 07
unknown, liverpool says...
7:32pm Sat 7 Jul 07
MH, Manchester says...
10:02am Fri 13 Jul 07
AYSUN, DERBY says...
4:41pm Thu 26 Jul 07
shahid Munir, Manchester says...
12:11am Tue 4 Sep 07
Laura, Burnley says...
4:34pm Tue 25 Mar 08
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BLT, Blackburn says...
12:35pm Sun 1 Jul 07
We deport a peace-loving family who is one of the few cases that is justifiable for asylum,sending them into persecution and a possible death,yet open our doors to others that only want to destroy and murder us with car bombs ...This country is on self-destruct.