Dear brother Knights
Greetings
We are writing to urgently request your help in the most recent complication in the story of Arzoo Raja, the young Pakistani victim of kidnapping and forced marriage whose case garnered wide national and international attention in 2020. After the family fled Pakistan to seek asylum in Azerbaijan, they were instead arrested on October 27, 2023, and taken to a detention center.
Arzoo was 13 years old when she was abducted, forcibly converted, and forcibly married to her 44-year-old neighbor Azhar Ali in October 2020. Nadeem Bhatti of Canadian Aid to Persecuted Christians has been working closely with the family through the long, drawn-out ordeal, finally resulting in a court decision reuniting her with her family. Because they could no longer live safely in Pakistan, they made the difficult decision to flee and seek asylum.
Upon arrival in Baku, Azerbaijan, on October 3, the Raja Lal family (Raja, Rita, Sonia, Mehwish, Shahbaz and Arzoo) registered with the local immigration office and filed their asylum case on Oct 16. However, the office did not give them any documents, rather insisting they return to Pakistan. They continued appealing for asylum, repeatedly visiting the immigration office on October 24 and again on 25, as their visas were to expire at midnight on October 26. Disturbingly, rather than being given the requested documents, they were arrested on 27 October, told to buy tickets to return to Pakistan, and taken to a detention center.
Several of the family have become ill due to the conditions at the center. Their lives were already in danger in Pakistan, and if they were deported to Pakistan they would be arrested again. Arzoo’s abductor has strong connections to the notorious extremist leader, Mian Mithu, and with the powerful Muthida Qami Movement (MQM) organization. Laws in Pakistan do not adequately protect the rights of the Hindu and Christian minority communities, where it is estimated that over one thousand girls from minority communities are abducted, raped, and forcibly converted to Islam and married every year. The conversion and marriage laws pose a particularly grave threat. Arzoo’s “conversion” to Islam, even under duress, is considered irreversible, and a return to the faith of her family would carry the death penalty according to religious edicts.
We would ask you to use your influence, voices, and connections to strongly advocate for justice for Arzoo in this fresh and dire situation. Canadian Aid to Persecuted Christians is appealing to the Government of Canada to give the family emergency immigration status, and our group is ready to provide resettlement.
1) Please add your voice to ours by writing to your MP, to the Minister of Immigration and Refugees, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and to the Prime Minister asking for them to urgently intervene to rescue this family and grant them emergency immigration status.
2) As instructed by UNHCR, we have reached out to the State Migration Service of Azerbaijan regarding this issue. We request that you also contact them to add your voices begging them to grant asylum to this vulnerable family. Address: 202 W Highway, 3123 Block, Binagadi district, Baku city, Azerbaijan Republic, AZ1114. Call Centre: (+994 12) 919 / for incoming international calls: (+994 12) 565 61 18; e-mail: info@migration.gov.az
3) After reaching out to the State Migration Service, contact UNHCR in Baku, Azerbaijan, asking them to provide legal assistance to the family. +994 51 207 59 96 https://help.unhcr.org/azerbaijan/
4) Please use any other connections or influence that you might have to assist.
I earnestly implore your urgent action on behalf of this vulnerable family who have already suffered so much.
Vivat Jesus
Nadeem Bhatti
Chairman Christian Refugee Relief
Knights of Columbus Saskatchewan
Yours sincerely,
Ruth Olson, CAPC board member and volunteer
Canadian Aid to Persecuted Christians
Nadeem Bhatti, CAPC President
Email: nadeem@capc.life
Web: https://capc.life
