SCHOOL friends of two asylum seeking boys have joined with church leaders to hand in a petition to stop them being sent to Pakistan.

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and MP Paul Sweeney handed over the petition into the Home Office centre in Govan.

A bus load of supporters from churches in Possilpark and Springburn along with pupils at Springburn Academy travelled to the centre to show their backing for Somer and Areeb Umeed and their parents Maqsood and Parveen Bahksh.

The petition numbers almost 85,000 signatures calling for the family to be allowed to remain in Scotland.

The family are seeking asylum claiming if they were sent back to Pakistan their lives would be in danger due to Christians being persecuted under strict blasphemy laws.

The had the backing of school friends, church leaders and congregations in the north of Glasgow.

Rt Rev Susan Brown, the Church Moderator said: “We are showing our solidarity with the Bahksh family.

“The boys are every bit as Scottish as my kids.”

She said the situation that would face them in Pakistan was “life and death”.

She added: “For the UK government to suggest they go to a different part of the country is ridiculous. It the same no matter where you go.”

Dozens of friends and fellow pupils from their school turned up with hand-made banners showing their backing.

A separate petition by one of their fellow pupils has also gathered more than 2000 signatures.

Amy Brown, 17, said she was shocked by the boys’ situation and wanted to help.

She said: “We felt the need to act. It shows he whole of Springburn Academy is behind them.

“We want to let everyone know this is how we feel. We don’t want o sit back and watch this happen.”

Initially the Home Office management refused to accept the petition.

Finally after a conversation a police officer was sent out to the main gate and he took the petition back inside.

Paul Sweeney Labour Glasgow North East MP joined the supporters a the gates of the office in Brand Street, Govan.

He said he would take the petition to the Home Secretary Sajid Javid in Westminster if it was refused in Glasgow.

Mr Sweeney said: “The home Office react to political and public pressure. This will make them aware there is a committed group in Glasgow that will do all they can to protect the family and I am part of that.

“The actions of the church and school friends show we won’t go down without a fight.”

The brothers were delighted with the show of support from their school.

when the family left Pakistan seeking safety and peace in Scotland Somer was nine and his brother Areeb was six.

Somer, 15, appealed to Home Office officials. He said: Please look at our petition and how many people support us.”

“I can’t imagine having to go back there. It would be cruel because we know nothing about the culture . It is alien to us.”

Areeb, 13, said: “I don’t know anywhere else. this is my home and the people have been so friendly.

I don’t know any of the language in Pakistan. I don’t even know he alphabet.”

Mr Bahksh previously told of his deepest fears for his family if hey are sent back to Pakistan. their asylum application was rejected by the Home Office in April this year.

He said his uncle was murdered in Pakistan for his Christian beliefs despite being out of the country in the USA for 17 years.

He said when he returned he was followed by a religious extremist and killed in his home.

He also said his nephew had been kidnapped.

there has been several reports of bombing and killing of Christians.

In April this year four people were killed in the south western city of Quetta. They were from the same family celebrating Easter, when they were shot dead.

In December in the same city two suicide bombers attacked a church killing nine people at apre Christmas service. Islamic State claimed responsibility for he attack.

In another attack this April two Christians were shot dead outside a church.

There are an estimated 2.5m Christians in Pakistan around 2.6% of the total population which is predominantly Muslim.

Shi’ite Muslims and Ahmadiyya Muslims have also been targeted by religious extremists who want o impose a strict hard line Islamic law on the country.