STUDENTS and politicians have called for the UK Government to intervene to stop the deportation of a student at a Scottish college.
National student body NUS Scotland have spoken out on behalf of City of Glasgow College student Majid Ali, who was recently detained and is due to be deported this week to Pakistan.
NUS Scotland says Majid's family have been persecuted for their political activities in his home province of Balochistan, in the south west of the country.
Majid first claimed asylum in the UK in 2011 after his brother was the victim of an enforced 'disappearance' by Pakistani authorities, NUS officials said. More recently, his family home was raided by government forces, and his uncle and cousin were shot and killed.
Chris Stephens, SNP MP for Glasgow South West, has written to the Home Office seeking an urgent review of the case and will also be laying down a motion in the House of Commons.
Students are also staging a demonstration highlighting Majid's case at the Scotland Office in Edinburgh and at the Home Office in London.
Gordon Maloney, president of NUS Scotland, said: "We are deeply concerned for Majid's safety if he is forced home, and the UK government desperately needs to intervene and allow him to remain here.
"This whole case reveals the shocking inadequacies of our asylum and immigration system and we need to see urgent changes to that, for Majid and the countless others like him."
Mr Stephens added: "It is fairly obvious to anyone looking at this case that Majid should be allowed to stay as there would be a genuine fear for his life if he was deported.
"I have written to the immigration minister and the Scottish secretary seeking an urgent review of the case, and a motion will be laid before the House of Commons.
"I thank NUS Scotland for highlighting this case. The student community, and the Baloch community here in Scotland, will not be ignored, and I join the demands to end the disgraceful and unfair way in which those seeking sanctuary in the UK are treated."
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