A GLASGOW asylum seeker and her two-year-old son have been locked up in Dungavel and threatened with deportation.

Originally from Uganda, Sharon Sylvie Nasuna and Shaun want to be allowed to return to Kennishead, the community they now call home.

Concerned neighbours and friends today called for Sharon and Shaun to be released, branding their detention "appalling and inhumane".

Shaun, who takes medication for a nasal condition, is believed to be the only child asylum seeker being held in Dungavel amid increasing calls for a complete end to the practice in Scotland.

The family were bundled into a van and taken to the former Lanarkshire jail after arriving at Brand Street immigration centre on Monday for their weekly sign-on'.

Now fears are growing they will be transferred to a detention centre in London - to be sent back to Uganda via Heathrow Airport on Sunday.

Campaigners are warning Sharon could face torture and imprisonment if returned to her country of origin because of her political beliefs.

Caroline Lang, of Greater Pollok Integration Network, which supports asylum seekers and refugees, said: "They are both very distressed, neither of them are able to eat or sleep. There are no other children in Dungavel apart from Shaun.

"Sharon is terrified of being sent back to Uganda because of the torture she faces.

"People in Kennishead are very upset about them being taken because they are fully integrated here."

The 31-year-old mum arrived in Kennishead last July after fleeing political persecution and has thrown herself into community life.

The former hairdresser, a member of Kennishead Asylum Seeking Women's Group, visits South Side schools to deliver talks about life in Uganda and the cultural changes she is experiencing in Glasgow.

Sharon and Shaun's asylum application was rejected last month, but their lawyer is now hoping to secure a judicial review to allow their case to be reconsidered.

Ms Lang explained: "Sharon was submitting a fresh asylum claim and had it in her hand when they took her away.

"This contravenes immigration laws which state asylum seekers can't be detained if they have submitted fresh evidence."