THE highlight of last week was the moving appeal by Crystal Karim, the 13-year-old Fisher More school girl who along with her mother, father and younger brother is facing deportation to Pakistan where as a Christian convert her father's life is under threat.

Crystal stood at the front of almost 50 members of Pendle Council in Nelson Town Hall and read out a letter asking for whatever help the Council can give.

She was supported by her family, school friends and teachers.

And she received a standing ovation from (almost) all the councillors present.

The Karims' latest application is now being processed and how wonderful it will be if the Home Office can for once show some humanity.

This is the other side of the unpleasant hysteria which in recent months has been gripping this country over "illegal immigrants".

The legal fact is that no asylum seeker is "illegal" until they have exhausted all means of appeal.

And many of those satisfy any common sense test of whether they should be allowed to stay here.

Anyone who thinks the Home Office's decision-making about asylum cases is fair, efficient, competent or accurate should just get involved with a few applicants.

You will find that the system is hopelessly inefficient, wearyingly incompetent and often by any common sense test just brutally wrong.

This incompetence seems to permeate large parts of the Home Office. It is this that is the real scandal, not the frightened and desperate people who have come here not for material gain but to escape personal danger.

Of course there will be applicants who do not qualify, including those who are "trying it on". But both economy and humanity say that cases should be dealt with quickly, not lost for years in the system as so many are.

For instance, one African friend is still in bureaucratic limbo six years after she was first "dispersed" to Nelson.

It is two-and-a-half years since the Karim family lost their tribunal appeal.

Only now have they had the early morning raid, in the hue and cry to find "soft cases" to boot out of the country and boost the statistics.

The shambles of the Home Office is not their fault.

They are integrated into the local community in Nelson and have a huge amount to give to this country.

Let them stay and get on with their life.