#SaveLord - plan to take Glasgow student away from his family must be stopped
Responding to the news that a Glasgow student has been detained by the Home Office, Ross Greer, Scottish Green Party MSP candidate for West of Scotland and spokesperson on Europe and International Affairs, has called on the Scottish Government to ‘everything it can’ to stop the student from being deported.
Lord Elias Mensah Apetsi, a masters’ student at the University of Strathclyde, has been detained by the Home Office and faces deportation on Tuesday 22nd March.
The decision by the Home Office is understood to be due to human administrative error, with a new application for Leave to Remain not submitted on time.
Ross said:
“The Home Office’s move to detain Lord Apetsi is a stark reminder of the callous asylum system of the Westminster government, and we must come together to put a stop to his deportation. Lord is a prominent member of our community, and it is absolutely unjustifiable to take him away from his family and home here in Scotland.
“Lord Apetsi's situation shows just how cold-hearted and cruel the UK immigration system is. It allows for one of us to be thrown out of the country in the blink of an eye because of a slight administrative delay.
“The Home Office may see migrants as just numbers a spreadsheet, but this isn't about figures or statistics, it’s about our families, our communities and our society. We cannot allow the Home Office to continue treating people in this way, and I urge Scotland’s communities and the Scottish Government to do absolutely everything they can to stop Lord Apetsi from being deported tomorrow.”