Mother and daughter fear execution if they are forced back to Iraq from Birmingham
A Birmingham charity is helping more than 100 asylum seekers fleeing to the city each year. Paul Bradley talks to a mother and daughter who fear they will be killed if they are forced to return to their home country.
Iraqi pensioner Niala Melki and her daughter Salma Haddad were forced to flee the war-torn country when British and US forces invaded their home city of Basra in 2003.
As practising Christians, who are a minority in Iraq, they faced constant threats from killing mobs who believed they were supporting the invasion because of their religion.
They sought refuge in Birmingham but now, after five years of applications for asylum, the Home Office has refused their latest request.
The pair, who have been supported by Birmingham charity Restore, fear for their lives and said they were desperate to stay and put something back into the community that has supported them for the last five years.
They have one last chance to appeal against the Home Office ruling.
Ms Haddad, whose father was a doctor before he died of Leukaemia in 1998, said: “When my father died there was just me and my mother trying to look after ourselves in a patriarchal society.
“When the war broke out we had no choice but to flee as there were no men around to protect us from Iraqi security agents who were targeting us because of our faith.
“We’ve been in Britain now for five years and the people in Birmingham have treated us extremely well and we feel safe here.
