FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon is backing an appeal to stop a teenage orphan from being deported to a country he doesn't know.  

A cloud of uncertainty hangs over 13-year-old Giorgi Kakava as the residency permit that he shares with his grandmother has expired.

Giorgi, from Springburn, was just three when he fled to Scotland from Georgia with his mother Sopio Baikhadze, who died in 2018.

Glasgow Times:

READ MORE: Giorgi Kakava: New appeal launched to let 13-year-old orphan stay in Glasgow

Speaking at the First Minister's Questions, Ms Sturgeon said Giorgi should be allowed to stay in Scotland "for as long as he wants" with his grandmother.

She said: "As far as I'm concerned Giorgi is Scottish. This is home and he should get to stay here for as long as he wants to be here with his grandmother.

"Giorgi and his grandmother are just one of many families that fall victim to a UK Government policy that sees family migration as some kind of burden on society. 

"We want to see a very different approach, we have set out our own policies for a much more compassionate and flexible approach to cases - particularly cases involving young people."

Glasgow Times:

An immigration lawyer is preparing a new residence application for both Giorgi and his 62-year-old grandmother.

More than 90,000 people have signed a petition calling for the teenager to be allowed to stay in Glasgow.

Ms Sturgeon added: "Children who were either born in Scotland or who have spent their formative years here should have the opportunity to stay here with their adult guardians.

"I think that is a fundamental, simple principle and it is a principle based on what is right but it's also in our interests, we are a country that needs to encourage people to come here and make a contribution to our society and our economy.

"We should be making it easier for people like Giorgi to stay here, not more difficult. 

"Again, it is one of the many reasons why Scotland does need to be in charge of these things ourselves - so we can have a compassionate, humane policy."

Giorgi and his mother fled to Glasgow in 2011 due to fears that gangsters whom her late husband owed a debt to would either kill him or sell him to sex traffickers.

The schoolboy previously avoided deportation in 2018 after Paul Sweeney, former MP for Glasgow North East, and Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, raised his case in the House of Commons and Scottish Parliament.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “It is wrong to claim we are threatening to remove either Ms Batkhadze or her grandson.  

“They were granted limited leave to remain in the UK and currently have a further application outstanding, which we are processing.

“They will be updated as soon as possible about their application.”