Iranian Christian converts Sam Khosravi and Maryam Falahi again face the threat of losing custody of their eight-year-old adopted daughter Lydia as they seek to remain in Turkey, where they have sought asylum.
On 2 June Turkish immigration officials questioned Sam and Maryam’s right to legal custody of Lydia, who has chronic health issues. An order from a family court while the couple were still living in Iran ruled Lydia to be Muslim under sharia (Islamic law) and demanded Lydia’s removal from their care because of their faith.
In 2018 the couple adopted Lydia when she was three months old and living in a state orphanage. Welfare and Social Services in Iran then granted them custody rights.
Sam and Maryam adopted Lydia in 2018 [Image credit: Middle East Concern]
In 2019, Iranian security forces raided a Christian gathering in Bushehr, in the south-west of Iran, arresting the couple. They were convicted the following year of “propaganda against the regime” due to their Christian faith and membership of a house church.
Sam was sentenced to a year in prison, followed by a two-year exile from his home city, Bushehr. Maryam, a nurse, was fined and given a lifetime ban on working for any national institution, including for the hospital where she had worked for 20 years.
The family court in Bushehr ruled in July 2020 that because Lydia was born to unknown parents, she is Muslim under Islamic law and cannot be raised by Christian parents. The judge acknowledged that Lydia had an “intense emotional attachment” to her adoptive parents and stated there was “zero chance” another adoptive family would be found for Lydia because of her long-term health problems.
Pressure from the Ministry of Intelligence is thought to have overridden these considerations. At the time, more than 120 Iranian lawyers and civil activists signed an open letter protesting the ruling, pointing out that it violated child welfare laws and international human rights conventions, but to no avail.
The family fled Iran that year and applied for asylum in Turkey.
At their interview with Turkish immigration officials the issue of Lydia’s custody arose.
The officials required the couple to seek the annulment of the 2020 ruling from the Bushehr family court. Sam explained that, since the court is based on sharia there was no prospect of overturning the decision. The officials insisted that the couple apply to a Turkish court, which has no jurisdiction over the Bushehr family court’s ruling, and mentioned that Turkish social welfare services could remove Lydia.
How you can pray
Ask the Lord to provide divine protection to ensure that Lydia remains safely in the arms of her loving parents. Pray that the Turkish immigration officials and family court judges will recognise the blatant religious discrimination behind the Iranian ruling and grant the family full asylum and protection. Pray for peace and strength for Sam, Maryam and young Lydia as they face this agonising period of uncertainty.
