What exactly is the british government doing for asia bibi? | thearticle

The Prime Minister has finally spoken out on the case of Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Catholic mother of five acquitted of blasphemy last month, only to find herself threatened by mobs calling

for her to be hanged. In a sop to the extremists, the Pakistani Government has barred her from leaving the country and the Supreme Court will review its verdict. Mrs Bibi is in an

undisclosed location guarded by Pakistani security forces, while “extremists have gone door to door with photographs of Asia’s family members, hoping to find where she is hiding,” a

spokesman for Aid to the Church in Need, one of the charities assisting her, said. After nine years in prison – eight on death row – Mrs Bibi has gone from being almost universally ignored

to being a challenging diplomatic issue – and an apparently a sensitive domestic concern in the UK. Choosing her words carefully, Theresa May said at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday:

“Our primary concern is for the safety and security of Asia Bibi and her family. We want to see a swift resolution of the situation. Obviously, there’s an issue for the government and courts

in Pakistan, and the Prime Minister Imran Khan has publicly supported the Supreme Court and promised to uphold the rule of law, while continuing to provide continued protection for Asia

Bibi. But a number of countries are in discussion about providing a safe destination for her, once the legal process is complete. I’m sure the House will understand, given the sensitivity of

this case, it wouldn’t be right to comment on the details of the proposals at this stage. But we remain in close contact with international partners to ensure Asia Bibi’s long-term safety

and her interests.” At face value, by far the most positive aspect of the episode was the many “hmms” and “hear-hears” from other MPs as Mike Kane, Labour MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East,

posed her his question. The government’s position has been difficult to diagnose in terms other than apparent inertia and cowardice.  The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, is understood to be

keen to offer her asylum, Canada is in talks with Islamabad about Mrs Bibi’s plight, and the US is understood to be involved. One US official tweeted that a meeting in London yesterday had

explored “how to grow and deepen U.S.-UK cooperation to advance religious freedom and defend religious minorities”. But the Foreign Office has been criticised for urging the Home Office not

to grant her asylum in Britain for not granting her asylum in Britain out of fear of attacks on consular staff, and one charity helping Mrs Bibi’s family, the British Pakistani Christian

Association, claimed he was told there was also fear of “unrest among certain sections of the community”. (However widespread this concern was, it has thankfully been rebuffed, at least in

part, by the many Muslim leaders and public figures, including now Lord Ahmed, calling for her to be granted asylum.) Yesterday the Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, sitting two people away

from the PM, nodded in sombre assent as Mrs May spoke. But he hasn’t yet travelled to Pakistan to press its government to allow her safe passage, nor has he met with those NGOs campaigning

for her. Hunt’s predecessor, Boris Johnson, is certainly an unlikely person to champion Mrs Bibi’s cause, unless his aim was to point-score against his successor. Earlier this week Johnson

wrote in a letter to Mr Hunt and Mr Javid that fear of retaliatory attacks should not stop Britain from offering Mrs Bibi asylum, adding: “We cannot allow the threat of violence to deter us

from doing the right thing.” Mrs Bibi clearly needs powerful friends right now, but Johnson is not the sort she needs. Two agencies that have been drawing attention to her unjust

incarceration from the outset both told me they could not remember a single intervention by him while he was Foreign Secretary, despite him travelling to Pakistan in November 2016, where the

Foreign Office said he discussed “democratic reforms, working together to defeat extremism and creating new trade opportunities”. There is something short-termist and unattractive about

right-wing Westerners suddenly championing religious liberty in faraway lands – it easily looks racist, and alienates left-wingers who would have otherwise been sympathetic to an oppressed

minority. The person or community who needs help becomes associated with a divisive figure and scapegoated for it. At worst, it can look like a leader co-opting religion to give themselves

legitimacy. Think of the release of American Pastor Andrew Brunson from Turkish captivity in October, after which Brunson was photographed praying for Trump in the Oval Office. Did Trump get

him released because it was “the right thing” to do, or because Turkey was keen to ingratiate itself with the US after the Khashoggi scandal had left its rival – Saudi Arabia – out of

favour with Washington? And did Brunson have any choice in his “grateful rescued” role? Asia Bibi does not need to become associated with the man who had angered some British Muslims in

August for his likening of women in burqas to “letterboxes”. Thankfully with every day that passes we are seeing support for Mrs Bibi from a broader spectrum of Brits – Muslims, Christians

and Jews, politicians on the left and the right. In the worst outcome, Islamabad kowtows to its fanatics and refuses to let Asia Bibi leave, and Britain in a post-Brexit desperation

nonetheless increases its trade with Pakistan and continues to send millions in aid – for little discernible improvement in the country’s rights record. But surely the best outcome is that

the reason for Britain’s apparent silence is because other nations have more developed offers for her and her family, and our government doesn’t want to undermine those when other countries

have been working on her case for longer.