A GLASGOW MP has vowed to help a Saudi family who fear deportation and persecution in their home country.

Haifa Alshamrani, 29 and her husband Abdullah, 36, have filed for asylum after a claiming they were threatened by Saudi officials in the UK.

Glasgow MP Patrick Grady said his door is “always open” to the couple, who came to Glasgow last year with their two young children.

Mrs Alshamrani had been hoping to complete a pre-medical course at Glasgow University, but her scholarship from the Saudi Government was withdrawn.

The family claim it is because Mr Alshamrani refused to help Saudi students in Preston with religious activities, and say they were not told why the funding had been withdrawn.

The couple now hope to claim asylum in the UK with their children Mohammed, 10, and Gadah, seven, as they fear persecution when they return to Saudi Arabia.

Mrs Alshamrani is an atheist after leaving Wahhabism, an orthodox version of Islam, when she married her agnostic husband.They are concerned their non-religious beliefs will not be tolerated at home.

Glasgow North SNP MP Mr Grady had spoken to the couple in February about their plight, and has agreed to continue to help them with their problems.

He said: “I met with Haifa Alshamrani and her husband at my constituency office on February 26. “Haifa explained that she had been studying at the University of Glasgow under a scholarship from Saudi Arabia but that this had been revoked and her family were now claiming asylum in the UK.”

Mr Grady added that he had been working with the family’s lawyer to offer them support, and said his door was always open to them.

He said: “Since then we have been liaising with the Home Office, Migrant Help and the family’s 

solicitor to help the family access any necessary support while they are waiting for a decision on their asylum application.”

A fundraising page set up to help the family in the last month has raised more than £1,300, which has been used to cover their rent and buy food.