Friends of a couple from Afghanistan who sought sanctuary in a mosque in the Midlands say they expect the family to be deported to Germany within the next few days.

Farid and Feriba Ahmadi say they fled the Taleban regime two years ago with their children to seek refuge in Britain.

However, the Home Office says the Ahmadis must go back to Germany, where they first applied for asylum.

Their case caused uproar among Muslim elders after the police and immigration officers smashed their way into a mosque last week.

We have nothing left in Afghanistan. My house is gone and everything I had I gave away to come to Britain

Feriba Ahmadi, asylum seeker

Their children, Hadia, six, and Seear, four, were not at the mosque when officers stormed in and seized the couple.

They are now being held in a detention centre near Heathrow, but their children are being looked after by friends.

In the first broadcast interview since their detention, Mrs Ahmadi has told the BBC World Service that they simply wanted a future for their children in Britain.

She said: "I want something for my children, for their future, so when they are grown up, when their schooling is finished they can get a job, go to university.

Personal threats

"We came for my children's future - I am 24 and I have not seen a good life, always bombing, rockets, fighting.

"We have nothing left in Afghanistan. My house is gone and everything I had I gave away to come to Britain."

The raid on the mosque was widely condemned

Feriba Ahmadi says she is depressed and saddened by the prospect of having to return to Germany.

She admits the family tried to seek asylum there after escaping from Afghanistan.

However, she says her husband was threatened in the centre in which they were being held.

Mrs Ahmadi fears the same thing will happen again if they are deported.

Campaigners on behalf of the family say deportation is likely to happen once the couple are reunited with their children.

Barring any legal moves they say that will happen later on Thursday, with deportation possibly as early as Friday.

In a statement, the British government says there is no reason to believe they will not be treated well in Germany.

Seeking asylum, it says, must be about safe haven, not about reaching the destination of choice.