Jun 2nd, 2018
Ten year old Giorgi
By 38 Degrees team
Ten year old orphan Giorgi could be deported from the only country he’s ever known – just months after his mother’s death. [1] Giorgi’s lived in Glasgow since he was three years old. He fled Georgia with his mum to escape a criminal gang that threatened to kill him. Now his future is hanging in the balance, and we only have a few days to stop him being deported.
On Tuesday the Home Office will decide whether Giorgi and his grandma can live together in Scotland – or if he will be ripped away from his home and sent to a country he doesn’t know, where his life is in danger. [2]
Here’s where we come in. Together we can prove that the public stand with Giorgi and want him to stay. A huge petition, signed by thousands of us, would show the Home Office we’re on their case – they won’t get away with quietly sending Giorgi back to a country he’s never known.
Giorgi and his mother escaped to Scotland after gangsters in Georgia threatened to kill him. [3] Giorgi has lived in Scotland ever since. Despite all this, Giorgi’s teachers describe him as a ‘happy wee boy.’ He’s settled in a local primary school, has a great circle of friends and supports Celtic FC fanatically. [4] But soon he could lose everything.
Together we could stop this – we’ve done it before. Just last month, after over 50,000 of us signed a petition, we stopped the deportation of Olya, a mother who would have been torn away from her two-year-old child. Let’s do the same for Giorgi and his grandma.
NOTES:
[1] The Sunday Post: Orphaned schoolboy who has lived in Scotland since he was three threatened with deportation:
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/his-father-is-dead-his-mother-is-dead-my-heart-is-broken-sometimes-i-will-speak-to-georgi-in-my-own-language-but-he-does-not-understand-i-am-scottish-he-says/
The Church of Scotland: Young orphan living in Glasgow could be at risk if deported:
http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news_and_events/news/2018/young_orphan_living_in_glasgow_could_be_at_risk_if_deported
[2] See note 1
[3] His dad owed the gang money, but died having never paid the debt. You can read more on the story in the notes above
[4] See note 1
[5] 38 Degrees: Olya’s Deportation:
https://home.38degrees.org.uk/2018/05/14/olyas-deportation/
