The UK government have reportedly refused to offer asylum to a Pakistani Christian mother accused of blasphemy because the move would likely upset British Muslims.
Asia Bibi spent eight years on death row in Pakistan after a group of Muslim women accused her of making insulting remarks about Mohammed in 2009. Bibi was recently released from prison after she was acquitted of the charge.
Following the acquittal, thousands of Muslim men took to the streets of Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad to protest the decision and call for Bibi’s immediate beheading.
“The entire nation of Pakistan is riled up and against this decision,” one protester said.
VIDEO: Thousands of supporters of Islamist parties take to the streets of Karachi to protest Asia Bibi's acquittal and call for her beheading. Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman who spent eight years on death row for blasphemy was freed from jail pic.twitter.com/zh24mV0TYM
— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 9, 2018
Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, told The Huffington Post that the British Government denied Asai Bibi’s request out of concern it would upset British Muslims and provoke attacks on its embassies.
“I’ve been lead to believe that the UK government had concerns that her moving to the UK would cause security concerns and unrest among certain sections of the community and would also be a security threat to British embassies abroad which might be targeted by Islamist terrorists,” he said.
Chowdhry went on to say two other countries have made firm offers of asylum and “Asia and her family have now decided to take up one of the offers for asylum from a western country.”
In contrast, The Sun reported that almost 400 jihadis who fought for ISIS in Syria have returned to the UK and are free to roam the streets. Only one tenth of those who had returned have been prosecuted.
