maarij khan and his mother mushammat are set to be removed from their home in newcastle after the home office turned down their bid to remain in the uk .
now 3,500 people have signed a petition to allow the schoolboy and his mother to stay in britain , where maarij 's 10-year-old brother saffat died of meningitis last month , after his fight against an aggressive form of cancer and several rounds of chemotherapy left his immune system fatally weakened .
the family first came from bangladesh to the uk in october 2007 to live with maarij 's father .