by SIMON ROGERSON

Harrow's race relations watchdogs have added their weight to the growing campaign against the deportation of a Pakistani family from their home in Little Stanmore.

Seven pupils from Canons High School in Shaldon Road, Canons Parkm, accompanied Shaista Gill, 15, of Constable Gardens, to the annual meeting of Harrow Council for Racial Equality on Thursday evening last week.

Shaista and her family are fighting a deportation order imposed by Immigration Minister Michael O'Brien, who was supposed to have spoken at the meeting but sent a civil servant, Richard Davis, in his place.

The official word was that Mr O'Brien had "pressing parliamentary business", but the schoolchildren and their teacher Simon Lordan were unimpressed when Mr Davis was unable to answer their questions.

Nikesh Parmar, 15, said he was shocked when Mr Davies could not tell him why Shaista and her family were being deported after living in England for more than four years.

The HCRE's 45 members voted with only one abstention to back the Gill family as they fought the order through the courts.

"We are still very hopeful, and we're doing everything possible to hold up the process until someone with authority sees sense," said Shaista's teacher Simon Lordan. "Some major points have been overlooked by the Government.

"This issue has united children from Muslim and Hindu backgrounds who just don't see why Shaista and her family should be deported. Neither do I."

The decision to deport the Gill family came despite the support of Harrow East MP Tony McNulty and church groups throughout Harrow, Edgware and Burnt Oak.

Supporters fear the Christian family will face torture if they return to their mainly Muslim community in Gujarat.

Shaista's father Samsun has been in a detention centre in Portsmouth since May 31, but no date has yet been set for the family's deportation.

The family's solicitor, Louise Christian, has said that translation confusions at an earlier hearing contributed to a crucial misunderstanding about the level of hostility that the Gills were likely to face in Pakistan.

The Gills, who were waiting for legal aid, had been supposed to be deported on June 23, but were still waiting a decision from the Home Office.

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