Protest at move to deport teacher living in UK for 12 years

Farhan Zakaria, 28, who was teaching French and Bengali at Sarah Bonnell School in Stratford, has lived in the UK for 12 years.

But he has been told he faces deportation as his visa was only valid while his father was working for the Bangladesh High Commission, which he stopped doing in 2000.

Mr Zakaria argues it would be a breach of his right to a family and private life if he is sent back to Bangladesh.

But immigration judges have rejected his claim as well as that of his parents and elder brother.

Mr Zakaria said he did not realise his visa was not indefinite, and is seeking leave to appeal against the decision to the High Court.

He said: "I came to this country in 1996 with my family when I was 16 so my father could work for the Bangladesh High Commission. We were given 'exempt' visas which had no expiry date on them and we thought that we were here legally.

"Now I am told that I must go back but I have lived here for 12 years, compared with only four and a half years in Bangladesh, and feel that this country is my home and want to be able to stay." Because his father was a diplomat Mr Zakaria spent his childhood living all over the world.

He said: "I studied here and have taught here for four years, don't claim benefits, have a very unusual skill of being a teacher of French and Bengali, and think that I am making a good contribution to this country."

His case has triggered support among his colleagues and pupils, who last night staged a march in protest at the decision.They highlighted his "almost unique" skills as a qualified teacher of Bengali and French, and warn his departure could have a serious impact on his 17 GCSE students.

Cauthar Tooley, headteacher at Sarah Bonnell, which has been forced to suspend Mr Zakaria because of his status as an illegal migrant, backed his bid to stay.

"Sarah Bonnell is a specialist language college and Mr Zakaria is almost unique in the country in being a trained teacher of both Bengali and French," she said. "If he is deported he will be almost impossible to replace, and 70 students will be deprived of their Bengali teaching."

An immigration tribunal and an appeal judge have rejected a bid to stay by Mr Zakaria and his family.

The initial judgment said the family should have applied for a new visa as soon as Mr Zakaria's father stopped working for the Bangladesh High Commission in November 2000.

The judge said their failure to do so was a prolonged breach of immigration rules and that the support from the school and local community did not outweigh this offence.

The judge added that Mr Zakaria's right to a family life would not be unduly affected as his parents and brother were also to be deported.

The judge's decision was later endorsed at an appeal hearing.

A UK Border Agency spokesman said: "We expect those who the independent courts say have no right to remain in the UK to return home voluntarily, but if they choose not to we will enforce their removal."

Mr Zakaria, his parents and brother will now be returned to Bangladesh unless the High Court grants them leave to mount a further appeal.

Sarah Bonnell is an all-girl state secondary school which has, since 2003, had specialist language status.