Couple forced to flee
LISA HONEYBONE
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A BIRKENHEAD family living in Morocco have been caught up in a religious crack-down which has seen them interrogated and forced out of the country.
Chris and Tina Broadbent and their two sons William, 3, and Samuel, 15 months, are now in Spain.
The Broadbents had been volunteering in a Moroccan orphanage called Village of Hope, run by Christian volunteers.
All foreign staff were given one day to leave the country.
Mr Broadbent says the reason given by authorities for forcing them out was that they were trying to convert the abandoned children in the care of the orphanage to Christianity.
"This is despite the fact that we have always been open about our faith to the authorities and for 10 years they have allowed Village of Hope to take in and foster children abandoned by this society, children who would otherwise be killed or placed in state-run `mega' orphanages," the former member of the New Zealand police says.
The fate of 33 children is now unknown.
"Watching the children be told by their foster-parents that they had to leave is the most painful thing I have ever witnessed," Mr Broadbent says.
Mrs Broadbent's father David Goold last saw the couple in Morocco on February 12 after spending two weeks with them.
He says everything was perfectly fine when he and his wife left.
"The was no indication of anything happening," he says.
It all began nearly two weeks ago when the Broadbents were called at midnight and told they were to be interrogated.
"We were interrogated for two-and-a-half hours without recourse to representation, any explanation of our rights and obligations, or any explanation for the purpose of the interrogation," Mr Broadbent says.
There were between four and seven people in the room with the Broadbents and their children at varying times, some in uniform and some not, he says.
"The questions asked included how we came to know about Village of Hope, how we were personally financed, whether we were sent by any agency, what we do when we meet together in our Sunday morning services at Village of Hope, whether we were evangelising and similar questions."
They were given one hour to throw what they could into a suitcase before they would be taken to Casablanca.
Because the couple have two young children, they asked for an exception.
Police agreed but hassled them to move quickly.
They owned a car which they drove in a police convoy to Tangier where they caught the ferry to Spain.
"They never imagined that scenario," says Mr Goold. "They were very careful to keep everything transparent."
The Broadbents were in Morocco on residency visas which they were forced to surrender to officials. They are due to return to the Shore from Spain in a fortnight.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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