Mahmoud and his friends, Rezghar and Saman, all young Kurdish refugees, have fled political persecution and inevitable imprisonment in northern Iraq by smuggling themselves into England aboard a freight train. Evading British transport police, they make contact with relatives waiting to pick them up.

They register for asylum and try to establish new lives. Rezghar falls in love with Lana, Saman's cousin, but their future is threatened when the friends find that their genuine claims are bound up in red tape and lost in the system. As a result, Saman is detained as an illegal alien and, because the detention centres are overflowing, sent to prison. Rezghar, too, is soon arrested but evades capture by taking refuge in the church of a Catholic priest, Father Michael. Mahmoud joins him and together they claim sanctuary.

Although they are Muslims, Father Michael decides to champion their cause. Having won the support of his congregation, he attempts to persuade the Home Office that an injustice is being done and that the boys' cases should be re-examined. The church becomes the focus of escalating media attention, with demonstrations both for and against the asylum-seekers' situation. Despite his personal stand, the limits of Father Michael's compassion are stretched to breaking point, and he is finally pressured into allowing the police access.

Unbalanced by events, Rezghar takes a congregation member hostage at knifepoint until Father Michael defuses the situation by an act of Christian forgiveness. However, the incident has reinforced the police's hand, and when they enter the church forcibly, the terrified Rezghar hangs himself.

Distraught at his friend's death, Mahmoud rails angrily at Father Michael and the authorities. He carries Rezghar's inert body outside, watched by the police, the parishioners, the press, and the tearful Lana. The situation has changed the lives of all it has touched.

Runtime:- 109 minutes