Europe welcomes thousands of Syrian refugees, most of whom are Muslims. But the Christians of Pakistan are faced with a different appeal — Sweden ordered many of them to return home, where most of them could face death.
Hundreds of thousands of Muslim migrants seeking a better life in Europe. Pakistani Faisal Javaid after arrival in Sweden became a Christian.
“I have no more faith in Islam,” says Faisal.
He fell in love with ESC, a Christian from Georgia, which led him to Christ. Guy was baptized in April of last year, but, unlike many other migrants soon faced rejection in his adopted country.
“They say if you are Muslim and you are from Syria, you would be welcomed here in Sweden — the border is open. But if you’re a Christian and you’re from Pakistan, you can immediately pack their bags and go home!”, he says.
Swedish migration Department issued a deportation order Feisal and his family. The man will be sent back to Pakistan, and his wife and daughter home EKI in Georgia. I will be hard to talk to us about their experiences. But with tears in her eyes she told us that she wants her family stayed together in Sweden. Deportation is not only separated families, but also jeopardize the life of Faisal, because now the Muslims consider him an apostate.
“If we are deported, our family, relatives, friends — everyone will consider it their duty to kill us. We just want to save his life. I want to stay with the family,” says Faisal Javaid.
“They do not care, asked whether he is in the faith or not. Here in Sweden, still of the opinion that the Christians of Pakistan do not need any protection,” says Gabriel Donner, a lawyer for immigration.
Gabriel Donner, a lawyer Faisal, has filed a lawsuit against the Swedish government, accusing it of violating the provisions of the European Union, which requires to protect Muslims who convert to Christianity. According to him, the court agreed with him: “the Court found this unacceptable and sent all the documents to the migration office with the demand to correct the error,” says Gabriel Donner.
Eventually Feisal and his family might be allowed to stay in Sweden.
“If Faisal will be able to prove that he is a true believer, you will be safe”, — said the lawyer Gabriel Donner.
But as Feisal to prove that his conversion is sincere and that he just pretended to be a Christian to get asylum? His pastor, Joel Backman of the Church “Elim”, sent a letter to the migration office. He recognizes that to test the faith difficult.
“How can you define my faith and I yours?, — surprised the pastor of the Church “Elim” Joel Beckman. — We write only what we see: they come to Church, pray, posedeyut study of the Bible. They are part of our Ministry as a whole. That’s all we can report to the authorities. And we add its subjective evaluation: “I believe they are sincere.”
To the Church “Elim” Faisal visited the home Church led by Gabriel blood. According to the pastor, officials from the Swedish migration office is difficult to distinguish between relationship and religion. As neophyte Christians, they often ask technical questions about what they can’t know.
“Sometimes asking very strange questions, for example, about the colors of the vestments of the clergy. Of course, they don’t know about such things if you were in an ordinary house, where together they read the Bible and discovered Jesus. These new converts know nothing about Church traditions. But they know Jesus. They love Jesus,” says pastor of the Church “Home of Agape” Gabriel blood.
In another case, love the paki to Jesus almost cost him his life. A former teacher Herman Fernandes, who changed his name, abandoning Pakistan, teaching Western ideas to students in the North-West of Pakistan. And then he had problems with radical Muslims.
“I received threats from two students, whose parents were… How you say? Imams in the region,” says Herman Fernandez, who emigrated from Pakistan.
Besides the fact that Herman was called a kafir, that is, have rejected Islam, he was also accused that he was an American spy, because he helped some Western organizations. According to him, he and two colleagues were kidnapped in September 2011. Herman argues that witnessed their murders: “On the second or third day, one of my colleagues beheaded, recalls Herman. Besides, they forced me to watch it. I’m trying to forget it”.
Herman said that the second colleague was beheaded after a few days. The murder was filmed. According to him, in the end one of the kidnappers helped him to escape. After that, Herman fled to Sweden, where the office for migration rejected his request for asylum.
“They don’t understand that my life is in such danger in Pakistan!”, — exclaims Herman. He was sure that if deported he would get into trouble: “I’m caught either at the airport or… well, I will be the end,” he says.
Gabriel Donner is and German. He wants the Swedish authorities took into consideration the plight of Pakistani Christians in making decisions in such cases as those of Faisal and German.
“Let them believe their word as they today believe in the word of other refugees arriving in Europe,” urges Gabriel Donner.