A FAMILY of Kosovan asylum seekers was back in Glasgow last night, after a campaign by schoolchildren to prevent their deportation.
Sadush Murselaj, his wife, Tade, both 44, and their children Agnesa, 15, Gentian, 12, and nine-year-old Leonard, returned to their home in Scotstoun, after being freed from Yarl's Wood detention centre in Luton.
The arrival was not without incident, as Agnesa and eight schoolfriends from Drumchapel High, who had signed a petition calling for the family's release, were stuck in a lift for an hour on the fifth floor of the tower block.
Mr Murselaj said last night:
"I am feeling very good about being back in Glasgow. Thank you to everyone for helping us.
Thank you very much.
"Hopefully we will be able to stay for a long time."
Euan Girvan, a teacher at Drumchapel High, said there may be more campaigning ahead as he understood the release was temporary.
In a letter to the office of George Galloway, the MP for Glasgow Kelvin who has supported the family's case, the Home Office said it supported rejection of their asylum claim.
It also stated that the removal could not take place until the UN Mission in Kosovo, which administers the province, had approved it. It is not clearwhether approval was given.
Hundreds of pupils at Drumchapel High signed a protest petition condemning the planned deportation and the campaign won the backing of 26 MSPs who signed a parliamentary motion praising the pupils' actions.
The group also criticised the "heavy-handed nature of the eviction", when 14 immigration officials arrived at dawn to escort the family from their home, 19 days ago.
The Murselajs, who have lived in Glasgow for four years and are ethnic Roma, were told three days ago a review of their case had been rejected and the family were expected to be flown to Kosovo next week, where they claimed their lives would be in danger.
The deportation decision contradicted advice given by the UN High Commission for Refugees, which warned the Roma community needed international protection and asylum seekers should not be forced to return to Kosovo.
The Foreign Office also voiced worries over the persecution of ethnic minorities in Kosovo.
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