A BANGLADESHI man who shared his story of the asylum system in the UK with the Evening Times two weeks ago is now facing deportation.

And the boss of a city night shelter working with asylum seekers accused the authorities of "targeting" anyone who speaks out.

Muhammad Alam, 32, came to the UK in 2009 and has been in Glasgow for two years fighting to remain in the UK.

Mr Alam was detained on February 16 four days after the Evening Times article was published, and his deportation date has been set for tomorrow.

He had been staying at the Glasgow Night Shelter, a homeless shelter for asylum seekers with nowhere else to go, for a year prior to his detainment.

The Unity Centre charity is now working to try and postpone the deportation date, as Alam has a fresh appeal pending..

Margaret Sweeney, chairman of the Glasgow Night Shelter, said: "I think Alam is being deported now because he bravely permitted his name and photo to be used in the recent Evening Times article, with the aim of informing the public of the realities of the current asylum system.

"Most asylum seekers would have refused to co-operate with the press to that extent as there is a history of participants taking part in media exposure of the inhumanity of the immigration system being targeted for speedy deportation. I have seen this happen several times."

Mr Alam is being held at Dungavel Immigration Centre in South Lanarkshire. He claims he fled Bangladesh after being tortured for two months.

Ms Sweeney said: "Alam expects to be imprisoned and severely mistreated on being deported to Bangladesh.

"There has been very little follow-up of what happens to asylum seekers deported from the UK but the few such studies carried out, to DRC Congo for example, show frequent cases of arrest and torture on return."

She added that his sudden detainment has caused "fear and distress" at the shelter, where so many men have been "driven to depression or despair" by the harshness of the system.

Last week the shelter got full charity status and is now an independent charity. It relies on donations and cannot get government grants or funding because of legislation that asylum seekers cannot receive money from the government.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We do not routinely comment on individual cases."