A 24-YEAR-OLD man who fled Iraq after refusing to become a suicide bomber is facing deportation to the Middle East.

Aram Rawf, from Ramsgate, came to Britain at the age of 17 after being kidnapped and tortured by a terrorist group in his native Kurdish part of Iraq.

But he could be returned there within the next two weeks despite the ongoing violence and what his friends describe as "a severe risk of death".

He had refused to become a suicide bomber for the terrorist cell which included his father, and was helped to escape by his sister.

While the group was set against the now-deposed Ba’ath party of Saddam Hussein, his friends and supporters say the cell’s links to his family mean it is impossible for him to return safely.

His friend Vaughan Hawthorn Nelson said: "He could die within weeks, he could die within days. He has established a life here through his job and he is a citizen of honour."

Aram has been working as a translator with refugees and asylum seekers and has toured primary schools building relationships between young people and the refugee community.

He was detained on Saturday, July 22, when he attended one of his monthly meetings with immigration in Folkestone to discuss his case.

His MP, Dr Stephen Ladyman, has been supporting Aram’s case and told the Thanet Extra: "We have been helping him for a year but I am afraid he has run out of options now.

"We have appealed to every member we can but they all take the view that it’s preferable for him to go home.

"Why I am upset that he has got to go back is that he arrived as boy of 17 and he doesn’t have a life to go back to."

Dr Ladyman explained that the Home Office’s view was that while it is clearly not desirable to live in Iraq, that is not to say he is at risk.

He added: "They feel that if people like Aram don’t go back to Iraq then there is no hope for it.

"He can go back to Iraq and try to make the case for coming back to the UK as he has a professional contribution to make."

The group supporting Aram have not given up hope this may not be necessary and a solicitor is applying for bail.

He is being held in a holding centre in Dover and is expected to be moved to a removal centre within days.