A LECTURER who taught deported asylum seeker Majid Ali has told of her heartbreaking final phone call with him just hours before he was removed from the country.

 

Ali - who is feared dead after his forced return to Pakistan - told tutor Rosie Quin "I'm scared, I'm scared" as he faced a flight aboard a military plane back to Pakistan amid serious concerns for his safety.

Friends of the student, who sought asylum in the UK in 2011 after his brother was "disappeared" in Pakistan, have been unable to contact him since he was removed earlier this month - prompting fears he may have been detained by security forces or even killed.

The Home Office is facing mounting pressure to reveal what happened to the peaceful opponent of the Pakistan government on his arrival in the country, with some activists calling for further legal action against the UK Government.

Quin, a senior English language lecturer at City of Glasgow College, told how Ali had been a model student up until three months ago when he learned that his uncle and cousin had been killed in Pakistan.

She said: "Majid was just a lovely guy, he was a great student, he was a great attender and he was really helpful and kind to everyone in his class. He was exemplary.

"But three months ago that all changed when he told us his family members had been murdered. He started erratic attending, but despite everything that was going on he still worked really hard and managed to pass."

The tutor told how she became worried when Ali failed to turn up to a farewell class at the end of term, before being told shortly after that he had been taken to Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre in South Lanarkshire.

"Obviously he had gone through a long legal process," said Quin. "But it seemed really quick to me.

"I managed to contact him in Dungavel and we went to visit him. He still had access to a phone and to email so we were in regular contact with him, trying to keep his spirits up by telling him all about the support people were offering him.

"Unfortunately I learned a few days later that there probably wasn't any more that people could do so I called his phone and he answered and he was at Heathrow.

"He said 'I'm scared, I'm scared'. He was aware of what was going to happen and seemed to be in shock.

"I said to him 'try and let us know you're safe when you get to Pakistan' and he said 'ok'.

"Then he said to me 'Rosie, can you please tell people thanks for trying to help me'. It was really emotional.

"He knew people were trying to help him but I don't know if he realised the enormity of it."

More than 15,000 people were tweeting about Ali's case just ahead of his deportation as activists tried to stop his removal.

However, he was removed on a non-commercial military flight late on June 9 and has not been heard from since.

Human rights activist Gary Spedding, who was involved in Ali's case, has now written to the UK Government demanding answers about what happened to him on his arrival in Pakistan.

He claimed there could be further legal action depending on the response from the Home Office.

He said: "When we get the response from the Government, the procedure depending on the response we get is likely either to be continue pressurising the Home Office or to make a different sort of campaign looking at what the Foreign Office can do to help track him down.

"We'll also seek legal advice on the response and there could be a further legal case. We could challenge either the deportation decision or we cold perhaps challenge the Home Office on the potential breach in general in Majid's case."

NUS Scotland, who also campaigned on Ali's behalf, warned that the Government will have to answer for their actions in the case if Majid is found to be dead.

President Gordon Maloney said: "All the available evidence pointed to the serious danger Majid faced if he was forcibly returned to Pakistan, and there's a very real worry that those fears have now been realised.

"Despite the clear risk to his life, and the history of deadly repercussions his family have faced, the Home Office shamefully refused to listen.

"If our very worst fears are realised then the Home Office will have to answer for their actions, and we'll take every possible step to ensure they do."

SNP MP Chris Stephens, whose ward covers Ali's home in Glasgow, has also made representations on his behalf and has submitted several written questions to the Home Office querying the department's actions in the case.

Quin added that she and Ali's friends are still clinging on to hope that he is alive and well, but that hope is diminishing as more time passes with no contact from him.

"We're all just hoping that maybe he's making his way back to his family or something and he'll eventually get access to email and we'll hear from him," she said.

"We just want answers. You would think that it would be easier to confirm his safety than it's proving to be.

"I accept that the Home Office has procedures, they can't be answerable to everyone, but I think given the public interest in this case, it's confusing as to why they won't make an exception."

The Home Office refused to comment directly on Ali's case, but a spokeswoman did say that in a case such as his when an asylum seeker has been removed, rather than deported due to a criminal offence, there are no checks or assurances made on the safety of that person once they arrive at their destination.

Amnesty International confirmed it is aware of Ali's case. His lawyer, Mark Templeton, refused to answer any of the Sunday Herald's questions.