TWO teenage brothers fear they will face death threats from Islamist extremists if they are forced to leave Glasgow for Pakistan.
Somer and Areeb Umeed Bakhsh, who are 15 and 13 respectively, say they are terrified they will be killed because of their Christian beliefs.
The boys - and their parents Maqsood and Parveen - have failed to secure asylum in the UK after fleeing Pakistan six years ago.
The Bakhsh family are now seeking legal aid to appeal immigration decisions to return them to the sub-continent, where British authorities do not believe they are at risk.
Somer, who is studying five Highers at Springburn Academy in Glasgow and hopes to be an astrophysicist when he is older, said: “I love Scotland and I do not want to go back to Pakistan.
“The thought of it terrifies me and it is very stressful to even imagine going back there.
“I wouldn’t have a future and I can’t even read or write Urdu.
“I want to live here in Scotland, it is my country and my home.”
Neither he or his brother have spoken before but their parents have been campaigning to stay in Glasgow, where they are members of their local church.
The family fled to Scotland after the murder of two Christians who were gunned down outside a court, while in police custody, in the Pakistan city of Faisalabad in July 2010.
Mr Bakhsh, an elder at Possilpark Parish Church, claims the people responsible for their deaths believe he is in league with them, know exactly who he is and would kill him and his family if they had the chance.
Paul Sweeney, MP for Glasgow North-East, said it would be “inhumane” to deport two teenagers, who are effectively naturalised Scottish boys.
He has urged UK Immigration Minister, Caroline Nokes MP, to give the Bakhsh family permission to stay in the UK while the Home Office urgently re-examines their case.
Areeb, speaking on World Refugee Day, said: “I have spent most of my life in Glasgow and consider myself a Scottish boy.
“I do not know anything about Pakistan or the language.”
Mr Bakhsh worked as a data analyst in Pakistan and holds two masters degrees, while his wife is a trained neo-natal midwife with 17-years of experience.
But both have been unable to work in Scotland and forced to survive on benefits and charity due to their immigration status.
Mr Sweeney, said: "I have met the family and was disturbed to learn that they are at risk of deportation to Pakistan where they have already faced discrimination and very real death threats for their Christian beliefs.
"This family have already contributed a huge amount to our local community of Possilpark in Glasgow through the parish church and are exactly the sort of people that our country should be welcoming with open arms, not casting out to a dangerous future.
"It is shocking that a highly skilled and motivated family like this have been kept in limbo for so long, unable to work or even drive a car.”
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