On October 20, the Immigration Department dismissed his brother Sadiq Mohammad's appeal for the youth to remain under his care and ordered he return to live in Pakistan.

The department ruled there were insufficient justifications to warrant 'an exceptional approval' of his application to remain.

Umar was ordered to leave by tomorrow but that has been stalled until an application for leave to hear a judicial review is heard on Thursday.

The department said it could not comment on the case until after the legal proceedings.

The bid for a judicial review of the case was launched by immigration consultant Richard Aziz Butt, who said the department's decision to refuse to allow Umar to remain was unfair and showed a lack of compassion.

'He is happy here,' Mr Butt said. 'His brother is earning a good living, and he can stay and prosper. His brother does not take anything from the government.

'In Pakistan, his future is not so certain because he only has two sisters there who have already married, and in Pakistani culture there is no obligation to bring this boy into their family.'

Umar said he dreamed every night that he was falling down a hole which never ends.

But when he comes to the mosque to study and play with other children, he feels better.

'Now, I want to spread love to the other children,' he said. 'I want to tell them what it's like not to have a mother and a father, and how they should love their parents.'

His teacher at the Kowloon Mosque's Islamic Centre, Hafiz Mohammad Zafar, said Umar was a dedicated student.

'He only has three chapters to go and he has memorised the whole Koran,' he said. 'That's an impressive achievement. Only 1 per cent of Muslims ever achieve this and he will have done it before he turns 16.'