The plight of the Vardanyan family, reported in the Evening Post, being held in a detention centre, struck a chord with me.

This mother and her three children have had their application for asylum refused, but a judge has issued an injunction preventing their deportation while a judicial review takes place. That could take weeks and they continue to be held in detention.

This may sound rather technical and none of our business. Surely there are sound legal processes that will sort all this out in due course? That's what I and my church thought before we got involved in a similar case.

It has opened our eyes to a shadowy world of faceless bureaucracy which feels uncaring and even hostile, where people's rights can be trampled on, and where the legal system often does not seem to be about delivering justice.

That said, we did get justice in the end, but it was hard won and could so easily have gone the other way. We had an excellent solicitor from the Bristol Law Centre, a superb barrister, a compassionate judge and a supportive MP. The church members and other churches and people in the community wrote letters, signed petitions and attended the court hearing in force. But what about all the other cases which do not get such support and expertise? I know nothing about their case but I'm glad that the Vardanyans seem to have similar support.

In our case the asylum seeker had entered the country illegally. For law-abiding citizens that sounds alarm bells. But she had had to flee her country in fear for her life without documentation to a neighbouring country from where she tried to find out where her parents had fled to. Eventually the Red Cross told her they were in Britain. After witnessing the killing of her younger brothers, she arrived in Britain with a false passport. So often the situations from which asylum seekers flee is so chaotic, urgent and dangerous that they cannot get here legally.

Proving to the Home Office and courts that she had to flee because of political persecution was a major problem. She had suffered the most horrendous attack in her home from men wanting information about her father who was on the wrong side of a coup. Although her parents' case for asylum was accepted, hers was not. It took a detailed report by an expert who knew the situation in the country, to overturn the initial refusal by the courts. She faced disbelief as she had to go over the traumatic episode again and again.

Twice she was arrested with her baby in the early hours and taken to Yarlswood Detention Centre, where the Vardanyans are now. We visited her there. It is a prison where they detain families awaiting deportation. Families have protested about the conditions and the Inspector of Prisons has made damning reports about it. It is no place for children.

We did not know how much money asylum seekers got. In fact in her case she received nothing for a long time because her application was refused at first and so she was not eligible and then because of a bureaucratic delay. Luckily she lived with her mother or she would have been destitute.

From this month new asylum seekers receive £35.13 per week – just over half the income support rate.

What has this got to do with faith? Christians believe in a God of justice who cares about those who are abused and mistreated. The prophets in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New, challenged those in power to treat the poor justly. The asylum seeker we supported never let go of her faith in this judge who she believed would give her justice in the end.