A minister who fled persecution in Pakistan has hit out at the UK Government’s proposed asylum bill – branding it “inhumane”.
Reverend Peter Gill, the former minister of Paisley's Wallneuk North Church, fled Pakistan to come to Scotland after he was persecuted for his Christian faith.
The 58-year-old was granted permission to live in Scotland as a minister for the Church of Scotland in 2003 but remains deeply worried for others desperate to flee war and persecution around the world.
Rev Gill moved to Scotland months after he was beaten by Muslim fanatics in Karachi – people who also threatened his wife and children.
Yesterday, he told the Express the recently-proposed asylum process closes the door on people who, like him, are fleeing for their lives.
“The proposed illegal migration bill is inhumane,” he said. “It goes against everything that we uphold and value in our faith and communities – the dignity and value of all humans and their right to seek safety when their lives are threatened and torn apart.
“They risk their life in search for safety.
“We must understand and assume that what they are leaving is worse by far and grant them the right to prove their case in the UK.”
Having lived in fear himself, Rev Gill knows what it is like to seek refuge.
Despite a promise that Pakistan, when founded in 1947, would be a secular country where everyone could enjoy religious freedom, Christians were quickly discriminated against.
He was badly injured, sustaining a nasty head wound, when he was beaten by an angry mob in 2003.
At the same time, his wife was threatened, as was his then very small children – with his attackers warning they knew where their children went to school.
Rev Gill – who served in Paisley for 13 years – was able to move to Scotland as a minister for the Church of Scotland.
His father later joined him as an asylum seeker but his sister – who has also been victimised as a result of her Christianity – applied for asylum in the UK nine years ago and is still waiting for the Home Office to grant her permission to stay in the UK.
Rev Gill added: “As a minister of the Church of Scotland, I feel we have a responsibility to share the duty of offering hospitality for those seeking sanctuary along with all the other nations of the world.
“Just imagine, if every country were to close their borders to refugees, then poor persecuted ordinary people would be left at the mercy of warlords, terrorists and dictators.”
The proposed bill would refuse asylum to anyone who arrives in the UK illegally.
Instead, people would be detained for 28 days and then either deported back to their home country or be removed to a third “safe” country such as Rwanda.
It is hoped the changes will reduce the number of people who make the dangerous crossing to the UK in small boats.
But Rev Gill said the approach is flawed and fails to recognise the severe lack of legal routes to the UK from war-torn and oppressive countries.
He said: “Many arrive from countries like Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and Sudan and do not have the opportunity to seek the promised ‘safe and legal’ routes that are open to a very limited number of people.
“I strongly oppose this bill and will continue to work with my interfaith groups, in Paisley and across Scotland, and partners in our local communities to ensure Scotland is a welcoming and safe place for all.
“I would urge my former Paisley neighbours to do the same.”
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