The British government has turned away a Pakistani Christian who faces mob justice after a death sentence for blasphemy against Islam was overturned, allegedly to appease “certain sections of the community” at home and Islamist terrorists who might be inclined to attack British embassies abroad.
Asia Bibi languished on death row for years after a blasphemy conviction for drinking from the same vessel as two Muslim women, recently quashed by Pakistan’s supreme court.
Huge mobs of Islamic hardliners have taken to the streets since the ruling, however, demanding her execution and threatening to kill her themselves — prompting the woman, her family, and her lawyer to seek refuge abroad.
“I am requesting the Prime Minister of the UK help us and as far as possible grant us freedom,” pleaded husband Ashiq Masih in an appeal to the country’s former colonial power.
The British government has reportedly rejected this plea, despite having previously signed up to take large numbers of migrants claiming to be children from France, as well as from refugee camps near Syria — although these were 100 percent Muslim in the early part of 2018, with all Christians rejected.
“I’ve been lead to believe that the UK government had concerns that her moving to the UK would cause security concerns and unrest among certain sections of the community and would also be a security threat to British embassies abroad which might be targeted by Islamist terrorists,” revealed Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association.
“Asia and her family have now decided to take up one of the offers for asylum from [another] Western country,” he added.
One of the two European leaders believed to have extended an invitation to Bibi is Italy’s populist deputy prime minister and minister of the interior, Matteo Salvini, who promised to do “everything humanly possible” to help her reach safety.
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