A 14-year-old Brazilian boy is to be deported to Brazil, even though there is no-one to care for him and his mother lives in the Netherlands, local paper Tubantia reported.

Leonardo Silva moved to the Netherlands to be with his mother 18 months ago after his grandmother who had been raising him died at the age of 52.

His mother, Elisangela, came to the village of Vroomshoop, close to the German border, seven years ago to live with her partner Patrick Veurink, leaving the boy behind. She says there is no-one left who can look after him in Brazil.

‘He has a half brother who works  and his father does not want anything to do with him,’ she told the paper. ‘He has a grandfather but he is already old. And we want Leonardo to stay with us in Vroomshoop.’

Now locals have started a petition in an effort to get officials at the immigration service to change their mind. Leonardo’s mother went to court in an effort to have the ruling overturned, Tubantia said, but the court said that the boy should be deported.

‘Leonardo has to stay in the Netherlands,’ said Thomas Nijland, whose own mother lives near the family. ‘His mother and her partner live here and he goes to school.’

It is unclear from the reporting why Elisangela left the boy behind when she moved to the Netherlands. However, she says in answer to questions on the petition website that the boy himself wanted to stay with his grandmother.