Last month we shared a bit of an evaluation of the success of our ‘Meals for the Homeless’ project (click here).  We continue to observe COVID-19 measures which include; no entry without masks (which we can provide) or sanitizing of hands.  We also require visitors to maintain a 1.5m gap while queuing.  Our food is so popular that our regular visitors are arriving at 4.30pm on Saturdays for a 6pm food distribution.

We thank you all for your donations of clothes, toys and books for newly migrated Afghan refugees.  We initially were to be partnering with several Afghan groups for distribution all of which were based in North London, but their stockpiles soon began to exceed their storage space.  So we have instead partnered with the local Salvation Army who will be distributing our gifts to Afghan’s temporarily located in Redbridge.

British Asian Christian Association have carried on their food provision in Thailand ensuring desperate asylum seeking families from the South Asian Christian diaspora are getting food essentials.

Bangkok’s lockdown lifted at the end of August but many businesses are still closed and asylum seekers continue to struggle as opportunities for illegal work are limited.

The murder of MP David Amess in a knife attack on Friday has sent new terrorism shockwaves around the globe.  The attack by an Islamic extremist of 25 years now identified as Ali Harbi Ali a Somalian migrant whose father Harbi Ali Kullane is a diplomat for the Somali Government and once worked as a Director for Communications for the Somalian President.

A father (Shabir Masih [56 yrs] ) who has waited almost a year for justice for his son and wife who were shot dead by neighbours for being Christian has spoken out about the judicial decision that has resulted in death sentences for the murderers. 

Read more and watch video (here)

British Asian Christian Association have won a hearing at the Sessions Court of Lahore, resulting in the arrest of known gunmen who shot at an innocent Christian community, severely injuring several people.

The landmark case will see these gunmen tried at an Anti-Terrorism Court under Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act where the perpetrators could face a life or even death sentence.

A Christian sewer worker fell unconscious after entering a known dangerous sewer with high toxicity, after being threatened with the sack when he initially refused.

Two Christian friends concerned about the unconscious man lost their lives trying to rescue him from the known death trap.

Company regulations were broken: One of the rescuers and a survivor had been on suspension due to previous unauthorised absence after already contracting illness while working in the drains. 

One of the dead men was not permitted to work in a main drain because he is on a self employment contract and was not a regular employee

Emergency services officers with breathing masks refused to help two unconscious Christians because they were ritually unclean.

A gun attack on a Christian community in Lahore has left several people injured and receiving medical attention. 

Fear has gripped the Christian enclave of Shamsabad, Sherakot who fear further attacks.

The attack began after a dispute between a Christian man named Asghar Masih (46 Yrs) and a local drug lord named Dilshad Dogar.  On 5th August at about 6pm Mr Masih was returning home from work and noticed some drug dealing near his property.  He glanced at the dealer for a little bit too long and Mr Dogar , who was with a group of associates, shouted out at him “Choorah (derogatory name for Christians) you have no right to be on these streets, go away from here.”

A Danish Christian newspaper was shown the realities of the blasphemy laws of Pakistan, when interviewing Juliet Chowdhry from British Asian Christian Association,  at the launch of a Danish translation of Asia Bibi’s memoirs.

Asia Bibi was wrongfully arrested and convicted of a blasphemy in 2009 the same year as the British Asian Christian Association was formed  (click here).

The Danish article can be read (here) but requires a subscription, and opens by describing the some of the awful torture Asia Bibi suffered, through an extract from the memoirs.

“My wrists are burning and I am having a hard time breathing. An iron ring, which the prison guard can tighten at will, squeezes around my neck, which my youngest daughter usually holds on with her small arms. A long chain connects my neck with the handcuffs around the prison guard’s wrist. The chain drags across the dirty floor and he pulls at it as if it were a dog leash. Deep down, I feel the fear pull me down towards the darkness of hell. A constant anxiety that never goes away. ”  (A translation taken from Google of the first paragraph of the article which has been shared with us).