Students and politicians mounted a last-ditch bid to stop the deportation of a Pakistani student, who says his brother, uncle and cousin have been killed or “disappeared” in his home country for their political activity.
NUS Scotland, along with a number of SNP MPs, have called for the Home Office to urgently look again at the case of City of Glasgow College student Majid Ali, who is due to be deported imminently.
Language student Ali claimed asylum in 2011, telling the Home Office that officials in his home province of Balochistan enforced the “disappearance” of his brother. Ali claimed his family home was raided and his uncle and cousin killed two months ago.
Ali himself was a student activist in the troubled region, before leaving for Scotland and his legal team have claimed he believes his life could be in danger if he were to return.
Activists in the south-west region have long demanded greater autonomy, a larger share of the area’s vast natural resources, and even full independence. Several separatist groups are considered terrorist organisations by Pakistan – though there is no suggestion Ali had any association with such groups.
Chris Stephens, the SNP MP for Glasgow South West, submitted an early day motion at the House of Commons, signed by 46 MPs, which “expresses concern that Majid will be in danger of physical harm, and even death, if he is deported”.
Stephens said the Home Office had rejected his request for an urgent review and he had met with Balochi activists at his Westminster office who said they believed Ali could be in trouble if he went back to Pakistan.
But he said the Home Office had also ignored his point of order on Tuesday asking for the home secretary, Theresa May, to make a statement, and immigration minister James Brokenshire had not responded to his request for a meeting.
“It really brings home to me, as a newly elected MP, how barbaric the system is,” said Stephens. “It is particularly disrespectful not to respond to any of my concerns about my constituent.”
On Monday, students staged a demonstration at the Scotland Office in Edinburgh and the hashtag #DontDeportMajid was trending on Twitter throughout Tuesday.
The Home Office said it did not comment on individual cases. But it is understood Ali is set to be deported on a non-commercial flight, late on Tuesday evening.
NUS Scotland president-elect Vonnie Sandlan said that Ali’s detention had happened very suddenly, immediately after he went to the local Home Office to sign some papers on Friday.
“He never had a chance to pick up his belongings. He had his phone taken away and, after four years of building a life here, he never even got a chance to say goodbye to his friends and loved ones,” she said. “We are extremely concerned for his wellbeing, and very distressed that he is being deported regardless.”
Sanjay Lago, president of the City of Glasgow college students’ union, described Ali as a “bubbly, friendly person who everybody knew”.
“We won’t stop the campaign here, this has really opened the eyes of so many people about how this kind of deportation can happen to someone they know, and we’re going to fight to stop this happening again,” he said.
