Family who fled 'threat of violence' in Pakistan can stay in UK

The Mukerjee family are "lovely, talented, warm people", says a charity boss

A family who faced a "very real threat of violence" over a "false blasphemy charge" and attitudes to epilepsy and learning difficulties have won a fight to stay in the UK, an MP has said.

Wilson, Ruth and Charles Mukerjee arrived in Liverpool from Pakistan in 2014, but had their application to stay turned down in 2019, Paula Barker said.

She said they feared Charles would be "set on fire" if they returned home.

The Home Office said they had now been granted leave to remain.

Mr Mukerjee said he and his family were "very happy", adding that they would now focus on his son's health "which got worse when we were detained".

The family's case was supported by Mencap Liverpool and Sefton

Ms Parker, the Labour member for Liverpool Wavertree, said she was "delighted" for the family, as "Liverpool has been their home and will remain their home now for the foreseeable".

In a statement, she said they had "fled the very real threat of violence in their homeland".

Sarah Jones, the chief executive of Mencap Liverpool and Sefton, said she was particularly glad Charles had been spared the "trauma" of deportation, as it would have been "incredibly dangerous" for him because his epilepsy could be triggered by stress.

"As well as Wilson and his wife being at risk from the blasphemy charge, we believe Charles' life was at risk because of the way learning difficulties and epilepsy is viewed in Pakistan," she said.

She added that the family were "lovely, talented, warm people, who have so much to contribute".