THE National Union of Students is backing a campaign to keep a hunger-striking asylum seeker in the country.

Kurdish student Fahmi Khalaf, who became a star pupil during his two years studying fashion design at Burnley College, is fighting deportation but was this week moved to a detention centre in the south -- a move which supporters say brings his expulsion a step closer.

He has not eaten for 24 days and has vowed to die rather than be sent back to Syria. And his pledge has won support from religious and political groups in Nelson, where he was living.

Now the NUS has joined the campaign to get 28-year-old Fahmi -- who had just won a place at Salford University -- released from Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre, near Heathrow Airport in London.

Helen Simmons, a member of the NUS National Executive Committee, said: "I really think it's a shame that this has happened, particularly as he's such a talented student. Our economy needs bright new people to get involved and we are turning that talent away. This person would benefit the country and would not be a drain on resources."

But supporters, who have launched a letter-writing campaign, say Fahmi, of Belgrave Street, is afraid to go back to Syria because he and his family have suffered abuse because they are Kurdish.

Brian Wilkinson, who was one of the first people Fahmi met in Nelson, said: "Things are not looking very positive at the moment. They have moved him near to Heathrow where they can just put him on a plane at a moment's notice. He is very weak because he hasn't eaten for 24 days; it is awful because he was such a young, fit guy."

Brian, 65, of Piccadilly in Manchester, is staying with relatives in Brierfield to help the campaign for his release, which is being led by the Nelson-based Building Bridges Interfaith Community project.

Amnesty International has contacted the campaigners about Fahmi's situation. A spokesman said: "Amnesty International is very concerned about basic human rights in Syria."