Stability at long last for much-loved schoolboy
DEPORTATION IS LIFTED
A SCHOOLBOY threatened with deportation for years is now celebrating after being allowed to stay on Tyneside.
Emmanuel College student Maarij Khan first faced deportation back to Bangladesh in 2015 – just weeks after the sudden death of his brother Saffat.
The Tyneside community rallied to support then 11-year-old Maarij and his mother Mushammat, with tens of thousands signing an online appeal.
Now – more than four years after being threatened with deportation thousands of miles from his home in Newcastle’s West End – Maarij is now all smiles after being told he is allowed to stay in the UK.
Maarij said: “I didn’t actually believe it at first. I thought they must have got something mixed up. As I was coming home, it kind of started becoming a bit more of a reality.
“When my mum confirmed it, I was elated. I just didn’t believe it, it was so out of the blue.”
Maarij first came to the UK with his mum and brother in 2007 to stay with his father while he was studying.
Saffat spent years battling an aggressive form of cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma and chemotherapy.
The brave schoolboy received a Braveheart award for his fighting spirit in 2012, and the family made their first application to remain in the UK the following year.
This was refused, and it was while waiting on the outcome for one of several appeals that Saffat passed away from meningitis in March 2015.
Remembering his beloved brother, Maarij said: “When I do remember him, it just overwhelms me that I have been able to live so long without him.
“Before, I could not even imagine how I was going to live.”
Immigration specialists Latif Solicitors were enlisted to fight Maarij’s case, and the schoolboy faced an agonising
It felt like I didn’t have any stability in my life. It was like rolling a dice, my future was up to someone else.
MAARIJ KHAN
underwent intensive wait while the legal dispute rumbled on.
Maarij said: “It felt like I didn’t have any stability in my life.
“It was like rolling a dice, my future was up to someone else. It was down to chance.”
Community leaders, councillors and teachers from Newcastle’s West End joined together in an effort to prevent the family’s removal.
More than 38,000 people signed an online petition calling for Maarij to be allowed to stay in the UK.
Liaquat Solicitors lodged a fresh appeal and submitted new legal representations to the Home Office last year.
Four years after first being ordered to leave the UK, the Tyneside youngster was finally told he and his mother Mushammat could stay in their “home” on family grounds. Maarij said: “Newcastle has become home to me now, it’s just a relief.
“It’s all one tight-knit community I have become a part of and integrated into.
“I have not made plans to celebrate, just to continue with my life.”
Mum Mushammat, 38, added: “I still cannot believe it.
“Every day I used to check the letterbox for news. I could not think about it, if I did I became more restless.
“Sometimes I still think I’m in a dream.”
Elswick ward councillor Dipu Ahad supported the family through the ordeal, and helped lead the fight and online petition for Maarij and his mother to remain in the UK.
Coun Ahad said: “When I was first approached for support by a grieving mother who had recently lost a child who was terminally ill, it was absolutely heartbreaking to hear her story and the situation they were in.
“We were amazed to see the campaign went viral. I’ve dealt with many cases and this was one of the most difficult, it was heartwarming to see the community work together.
“I am ecstatic that justice prevailed and the Home Office ultimately made the correct decision.”