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Karim family deported

11:27am Sunday 1st July 2007

comment Comments (16)   Have your say »


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.

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Your Say YourLancashire Telegraph

BLT, Blackburn says...
12:35pm Sun 1 Jul 07

Isn't this just typical?
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.

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Refused, Blackburn says...
3:21pm Sun 1 Jul 07

Finally, they have gone. They had a fair run, let's face it. The kids have been well educated and no doubt will be of more use to Pakistan now than if they remained there. They didn't meet the rules at the end of the day and will have been considered and re-considered whenever their solicitors clicked their fingers. I wish them good luck with their lives in Pakistan, a peace loving country which DOES NOT persecute Christians.

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sal, says...
7:38pm Sun 1 Jul 07

The family could not proove any persecution was present - and in Pakistan there is very little. Chrisitians in Pak. though are the lowest of the low in jobs, so there only reason for coming here would have been economic.

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BLT, Blackburn says...
9:13pm Sun 1 Jul 07

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...

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Refused, Blackburn says...
10:48pm Sun 1 Jul 07

BLT - I think you're the brainwashed one for not being able to form an opinion away from the popular ITV news. Keep watching Coronation Street and Jeremy Kyle and stay out of the way of complicated issues like this. And Halal Curry ROCKS!!

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Pippins, Blackburn says...
10:54pm Sun 1 Jul 07

The Karims were clearly economic migrants who came here because they had it bad economically in Pakistan. The Pakistan government allows the Christin faith and it's absurd to suggest otherwise. Just watch the street celebrations on Christmas day in Islamabad (shown in a Discovery Channel doc). I'm sorry, but we are not the world's Jobcentre.

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Gareth Parkinson, haslingdon says...
12:37am Mon 2 Jul 07

I have actually been to pakistan touring the country and the beautiful himalayan region, i met many christians who got on with their lives without any troubles, praying in churches and openly practising their faith. Their economy is rather weak, but this affects all types of the population not specifically the christians. And as far as persecution goes, the only people persecuted in that country are the criminals and prisoners, unlike in our country....

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Gareth Parkinson, haslingdon says...
12:48am Mon 2 Jul 07

BLT wrote:
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...
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.

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Appalled, Pendle says...
3:54pm Mon 2 Jul 07

To BLT: I wish you could have said your point without resorting to words that don't mean anything in the context you've used them!
Anyway, back to my point. It doesn't matter how nice the Karims were, or how well they got on in their community, rules are rules - sometimes we don't like them - but we have to follow them.
I wish the Karims all the best and I wish many people (even though they perhaps don't like immigrants) would do the same.

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ana, yorkshire says...
4:13pm Mon 2 Jul 07

to:gareth parkinson,hooray,at last someone has spoken the truth,well done mate

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anon, east lancs says...
11:50am Wed 4 Jul 07

the karims got three strikes and are out,i know an iranian who has had five strikes and told to make his own way home but is still here working illegally and the immigration turns a blind eye cause he lives with an old women who pays for him and not the government, how many more are there out there.ask your local mp

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unknown, liverpool says...
7:32pm Sat 7 Jul 07

pakistan is good enough for people to be sent back as pakistanis make the bombs and somalians. home office are very clever 2 send people back to there. i am an asylum seeker an i have not been threatned with deportation, maybe this is because people in my country dont make bombs.

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MH, Manchester says...
10:02am Fri 13 Jul 07

Brothers and sisters, every case is on its own footing, it is nothing to do with Christian’s persecution, generally, it is not the case but there are many severe persecutions with Christian families, ahmedis, Hindus. However, one thing is very certain that law agencies do not help persecuted people rather than they choose to friend of perpetrators because of bribe and political influence. Political corruption makes poor people lives terrible. Please see things in facts rather then blaming people like karim, they are human being and people who supporting Pakistani system, why not go and live in Pakistan but they do not. They just speak **** here and live here. Even if they were economic migrant, do English people not go for migration in New Zealand, America, France etc. if they are allowed everyone should be allowed to live in any country of the world. In addition, honestly review your resources which are coming from third world as a colony or when British invaded those countries

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AYSUN, DERBY says...
4:41pm Thu 26 Jul 07

ITS AWFUL THAT THE CHILDREN GOES TO SCHOOL ABOUT 6 YEARS NOW SAME AS ME I CAME TO THIS COUNTRY AT 2002 IS WELL AND CANT THINK TO GO BACK BECAUSE U COME HERE WITH A REASON THE REASON WAS TO LEAVE PEACEFULLY...
BUT THINK NOW YOU HERE ABOUT 6 YEARS SETTLED IN HERE START TO SCHOOL AND LEARN NEW LANGUAGES AND CULTURES AND NOW THEY LET YOU TO STAY UP TO 6 YEARS WITHOUT GIVIN ANY DECISIONS AND NOW THEY SAYS OFF YOU GO.... THIS IS SO STUPIDLY AND UNLAWFUL
LET THE ASYLUM SEEKERS STAY IN HERE... YOU SAY WE PROTECT PEOPLE AND THERI HUMAN RIGHTS BUT BY DOING THIS HOW CAN YOU????

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shahid Munir, Manchester says...
12:11am Tue 4 Sep 07

it is very sad, Karim should stay in the U.K with his family. It is completely Unjustice and unfair with school going children. Government of the U.K should annouance amnesty especially for those whoes are living with children.

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Laura, Burnley says...
4:34pm Tue 25 Mar 08

It's So Sad That Crystal, Calvin and the rest of their family have been sent back to Pakistan. She was in my class at school and we were quite good friends. Everyone misses her so much and We all want her back.

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Comments are closed on this article.

The Karims END OF THE ROAD? The Karim family who came to Nelson from where they and their supporters fought a long battle to keep them in Britain. But they were sent back to Pakistan at the weekend

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