Posted on 02/15/2004 3:24:53 PM PST by miltonim
An Afghan couple and their six children have left Pakistan for a new life in the United States after more than 15 years of refugee misery compounded by the attacks in the US on 11 September, 2001.
The Mir family's problems began when they converted from Islam to Christianity in the 1980s.
They fled persecution in Afghanistan but found the same problems in Pakistan.
Sadiq Mir, his wife and their children were due to leave for the United States in 2001. But the suicide airline attacks in New York and Washington altered everything.
'Doors closed on me'
Mr Mir converted to Christianity back in 1982 after a Malaysian missionary doctor treated him for serious car crash injuries.
But he says his family received threats in their home in the capital, Kabul, following his conversion from Muslims angered by his change of faith.
They moved across the border to the Pakistani city of Peshawar, only to get the same reception.
"My elder brother is a Taleban-type and leads prayers at a mosque in Peshawar and after I became a Christian my brothers closed their doors on me and I have been harassed by fellow Afghans," Mr Mir told the AFP news agency.
Eventually, the United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, took up their case and helped to arrange their resettlement in the United States.
The Mirs were due to fly out of Pakistan on 11 September 2001.
But the airliner attacks in the US on the same day put paid to that.
"I was told that the flight would be leaving in two days, but it took two-and-a-half years," Mr Mir said.
Mr Mir, now 47-years-old, went through stringent new US security checks.
The family flew out of Islamabad on Thursday, their world packed into a few suitcases.
Right up to their departure, they say, they were victimised and threatened.
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