HE came to Scotland to help his daughter escape forced marriage to a man who’d threatened murder.

Now a father with heart problems has told how he’s living in fear after a Home Office dawn raid sent him to the hospital.

Activists fear the raid signals a return to the controversial practice, which has been the subject of countless protests in Scotland.

It was thought to have stopped in Glasgow as a result of the high-profile Glasgow Girls campaign, in which a group of teenagers garnered public and political support, but it’s feared that its use will now ramp up as Home Secretary Priti Patel plans sweeping immigration changes.

The man, who The National has agreed not to name, was taken to A&E by ambulance after collapsing at the Glasgow home he shares with his wife and daughter.

They were woken early on Friday to loud bangs on the door and immigration officials said the man – who is launching a fresh bid for asylum in accordance with UK rules – would be taken away and deported. The 67-year-old collapsed and underwent hours of medical checks. It’s thought this was triggered by the stress of the raid, due to underlying health conditions which include angina. Now he says he’s living in fear after officials told his family they would be back.

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He told The National: “This is a peaceful country, I thought they will protect her, and we’ll never get any problems here.

“We are very afraid.”

The case came to light after the man, a member of the Maryhill Integration Network (MIN), contacted them for help to get home from the hospital, where he had been left alone with no money for transport.

Scottish Greens councillor Kim Long has condemned the raid, which took place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and SNP MP Alison Thewliss has also offered her support to the family.

They fled Pakistan to escape a forced marriage plot against the daughter involving powerful “criminals” from the local community. The father was warned he would be murdered if he stood in the way.

The family has been living in the north side of the city and has established friends here. All three members have underlying medical conditions and the father said: “I don’t understand why they would come and treat us like criminals. They know everything. We have done nothing wrong.

“Eight to ten people came to my house. We were very shocked and afraid – we were sleeping.”

His daughter said: “We don’t know how long it’s going to be like this, it’s just dreadful. We are waiting on our solicitor so we can feel safe again.”

Pinar Aksu of MIN collected the man on his discharge from hospital. She said: “If he had died, who would have been responsible?

“The last thing we want during a pandemic is for people to be dawn raided and taken to detention centres.

“There is fear amongst the asylum community.”

The Home Office paused immigration removals during the pandemic but last week came under fire for chartering a flight to Vietnam for the deportation of 27 people, 14 of whom did not go voluntarily. It said that happened in accordance with the law.

Aksu’s family spent one month in immigration detention when she was just 14. She says raids are “traumatising” and organised a protest at Home Office premises in Glasgow on Saturday. She is calling on the neighbours of asylum seekers to “look out for them” and record footage of removal operations. She said: “We can stop dawn raids. We did it before.”

Long, a Greens candidate for Holyrood, called dawn raids “inexcusable”, saying: “This is Tory politics in action.

“Dawn raids have no place here and Glasgow will stand up to this abhorrent behaviour, as it has in the past. This practice cannot go on – the Home Office and their contractors must bring it to an end immediately.”

The Home Office says it takes the health and wellbeing of those being detained “extremely seriously” and risk assessments are done before enforcement visits. It says it is working to “stop the abuse” of the immigration system.