Let Ahmad Fahim Akbari and his family stay

Ahmad worked for the British embassy in Afghanistan for nine years. His duties included assuring supplies through the airport and escorting Britons – including a kidnap victim –in and out of the country.

While he was doing this job, he received threats from the Taliban and there was an attack on his life disguised as a road accident. Because of the threats and danger, he left the job but the threats continued and there was another attempt on his life only prevented by the coincidental arrival of the police. However the police could offer him no protection.

He had been insulted by the police as a “son of the Brits” (that is, lacking any allegiance to Afghanistan) and had been detained by the airport police, released only on the intervention of the British Embassy. Fearing for his family as well as himself, he fled Afghanistan to seek refuge in the United Kingdom, a country in whose service he had risked his life and where he expected to find safety and protection.

Since coming to Sheffield, Ahmad has become a highly valued member of ASSIST where he volunteers in a variety of roles, whether this is helping out as an interpreter or as a handyman in asylum accommodation. He is a public spirited citizen who of his own accord clears litter from the streets in his neighbourhood. His wife Laila is making friends at college, the children Seyar, Yalda and Sajad are doing well in school and the new baby Subhan born in September 2010 is thriving. The family has now settled in the UK and have integrated in the Sheffield community where they have won the respect and support of their many friends.

Ahmad and his family can never be safe in Afghanistan. Not only did he work for the British but he was also a popular TV chef. His face is recognizable across Afghanistan. The whole family are distraught at the thought of being sent back as they would be in mortal danger there, whereas here they have been accepted and live in peace.