Protesters rally round for Rabar

Rabar Hamad

CAMPAIGNERS will hold a vigil today in a last-ditch attempt to save an Iraqi asylum seeker from deportation.

Rabar Hamad arrived in Britain in 2008 after spending 10 days in the wheel-arch of a truck.

He was discovered in Wigan, claiming to be a 16-year-old orphan whose parents had been killed by a bomb.

Wigan social services have funded Rabar’s stay at a children’s home in Oldham — the nearest available place — since last year.

However, the authority has since scrapped funding following a dispute over his age. They believe Rabar is actually 20 and his application for asylum was refused.

Now, teachers from Breeze Hill School, where Rabar enrolled in September, will stage a demonstration outside Wigan Town Hall in a bid to shame social services into reversing its decision.

Bob Miller, who’s wife Sally Hyman is Rabar’s English teacher at Breeze Hill, said: “We want to put more pressure on the social services department and attract attention to Rabar’s plight.

“We want Wigan to continue to fund his place in Oldham until the Home Office reviews his case.

“There is no medical evidence to determine how old Rabar is. It seems if you act maturely and grown up — as children are taught to do in Rabar’s homeland — you get punished for it.”

Rabar will stay with a friend while his supporters seek legal advice to see if there is any way he will be allowed to stay.

He enrolled at Breeze Hill in September where he was doing well with his studies and showed promise as a footballer. The school started a petition urging the Home Secretary to allow Rabar to stay and be properly age assessed by a medical expert.