THE orphaned son of an asylum-seeker who has lived under threat of deportation for 10 years has been told that he can stay in Britain permanently. 

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

The 13-year-old has now been granted indefinite leave to remain. 

The Home Office decision on Giorgi’s status is a victory for campaigners who have tirelessly battled for over three years to ensure that the family are not removed from their home against their will.

But concerns remain over the fate of his grandmother, 61-year-old Ketino Baikhadze, who has only been given 30 months’ leave to remain and could still be forced to return to Georgia.

The case was championed by local clergyman Brian Casey, minister of Springburn Parish Church, who lobbied governments and launched an online petition that attracted 92,650 signatures.

Mr Casey said that he was “delighted” that Giorgi has finally been given the chance to live the life of a normal teenager, but the removal of his grandmother from the country would be a “travesty.”

He said: “It has been a long fight, but it would have been criminal to send him back to a country that he doesn’t know where he could be in danger.

“But it does seem wrong that his gran, who is his guardian, will have to go through this whole protracted process again when he is 15 and still a minor.”

Immigration lawyer Andrew Bradley said the future remained uncertain for Ms Baikhadze, who might have to wait up to 10 years before being granted indefinite leave to remain.

Giorgi himself echoed Mr Casey’s view, saying: “The decision is very unfair on my nan because we are very close and I do not know what I would do if she was sent away.”

The decision follows former Glasgow North East MP Paul Sweeney, now an MSP, raising the case in the Commons and then prime minister Theresa May ordered a Home Office review.

Mr Sweeney said he was overjoyed that Giorgi had won his right to remain, but he called for action to ensure that his grandmother can stay in Scotland with him. 

He said: “Giorgi has been living in limbo this whole time and his grandmother, his only kinship carer, continues to face uncertainty over her future. It’s cruel.”