THE government went ahead with the deportation of Scotland-based student Majid Ali, despite fears for his life after family members were killed as a result of political persecution.

The City of Glasgow College language student is believed to have been put on a flight back to Pakistan from Heathrow airport late on Tuesday night.

Mr Ali’s family — members of the Baloch ethnic minority in south-west Pakistan — have been targeted by the Pakistani government, resulting in the death of his uncle and cousin after a raid on their home.

National Union of Students (NUS) Scotland president Gordon Maloney said the Home Office decision “may well have just sent a young man to his death.

“This shows the shocking callousness of our immigration system and the urgent need for a complete overhaul of our asylum processes.

“This country has more than enough to provide for those fleeing war and persecution and, rather than kicking them out, we should be welcoming them with open arms.”

Mr Ali had been held at Dungavel Detention Centre in Lanarkshire this week while demonstrations demanding his release took place in Edinburgh and London.

A last desperate attempt to prevent his deportation was made yesterday when campaigners from NUS Scotland, the NUS black students committee and the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) staged a protest at Heathrow Terminal 3.

NCAFC international students representative Tania Sauma said the “the climate for international students cannot get any worse.”The Home Office treated Mr Ali “like an animal,” she added.

“Safety is a human right and, given that he was a student here, he should be granted asylum.”

NUS black students spokeswoman Shabina Raja echoed the sentiment, saying: “The exceptional cruelty of the immigration system means that, sadly, Majid’s case is not an exception.

“Many cases go unheard on a daily basis and, yet again, the British government is making clear that its much-paraded ‘British values’ do not extend to tolerance of black people’s presence or mutual respect for migrants’ right to live in peace.”

The Home Office said it did not comment on individual cases but confirmed that Mr Ali was due to be deported on a chartered flight on Tuesday.