Subject: Urgent Asylum and Safe Passage Request for Arzoo Raja Family in Detention in Azerbaijan
Dear Brother Knights,
I’m writing to urgently request your help in a case that Canadian Aid to Persecuted Christians has been involved in for the past three years. The minor child Arzoo, a 13-year-old daughter of Raja Lal, of Karachi, Pakistan, was abducted, forcibly converted, and forcibly married in October 2020. Canadian Aid to Persecuted Christians has been working with the family through the long, drawn-out ordeal, finally assisting them to escape Pakistan to Azerbaijan to seek asylum, where, unfortunately, they were arrested on October 27, 2023, and taken to a detention center.
We request that the family be urgently given asylum by the Government of Canada and given safe passage and immigration as government-sponsored refugees to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where Christian Aid to Persecuted Christians is prepared to assist them with their resettlement.
Upon arrival in Baku, Azerbaijan, the Raja family 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. As their visitor visas were expiring on October 26th, the family continued appealing for asylum, visiting the immigration office on October 24 and 25. Unfortunately, rather than being given the requested documents, they were arrested on Oct 27 and told to buy tickets to return to Pakistan.
The family is currently in a detention center. They cannot return to Pakistan, where their lives are in danger. If they are deported to Pakistan they will be arrested there.
The case of Arzoo Raja has been reported in the local press https://www.dawn.com/news/1598113 and is often highlighted in social media. International leaders have pleaded with the Pakistani courts to provide justice to the Raja family.
What Can Knights Do?
Lift Raja family in your prayers
Write to your MP asking him to provide safe passage to the Raja family
Donate for legal and humanitarian assistance to the family (visit www.capc.life)
You may contact me via cell phone: at (306) 717-7725 or via email: nadeem@capc.life.
Vivat Jesus,
 Nadeem Bhatti
Chairman Christian Refugee ReliefÂ
Knights of Columbus SaskatchewanÂ
