Amy Brown is a pupil at the same school as Somer and Areeb Bakhsh and is campaigning to stop their deportation.
Springburn Academy is a school where you have the chance to meet many people, and that is where I was able to meet Somer and Areeb.
READ MORE: Glasgow schoolboys 'psychologically damaged' by Home Office deportation threat
I am older than both so, I am not on a personal level with them, but I have been able to see their growth throughout the years. I wanted to help them in any way I could.
The reason why we decided to help Somer and Areeb was due to the impact they have had on our school, their friends and also the Springburn community.
There are always stories about those who are being threatened with deportation, but, it was a shock when a family in our community was faced with that. That was when I and many others decided that we couldn’t sit back and watch a family that has lived here for six years and made Scotland their home be taken away from that.
It was important for us to campaign to show how we as a community disagree with this situation because if we didn’t act, who would? The day we found out about the situation they were in, we took action. I started a petition with the help of my peers on change.org. We shared with anybody we could and steadily racked up support from the community.
The petition has been active for four months and still regularly gains signatures, at the moment it has 2241. That is 2241 members of our community who stand with Somer and Areeb. Our petition may pale in comparison to the one that was handed in. However, our petition is the wrath of our local and surrounding communities.
Both the boys excel in school and are model students. Their aspirations for the future are admirable and make me want to work harder to better myself.
They are continuously hard-working through this difficult period in their lives and I find that commendable. The family are indispensable members of our community and should not have to feel any fear on any issue regarding their future.
They belong in Scotland. They belong in Glasgow. They belong in our community. They are a family who belong in the hearts of thousands, including my own. All of us stand with the family and are hopeful for a revision of their case.
The petition against the deportation can be found at: https://www.change.org/p/ we-stand-with-somer-and-areeb
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here