British actress Emma Thompson has launched a desperate legal battle to prevent the deportation of her 'adopted' son. The Oscar-winning actress, along with husband Greg Wise, informally adopted Rwandan refugee Tindyebwa Agaba after he was introduced to them at a Refugee Council party in London in 2003.

The 21-year-old - who is affectionately known as Tindy by the couple and their nine-year-old daughter Gaia Romilly - became an orphan after his family were reportedly victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. But now the British government is considering sending Agaba - who is studying politics and sociology at the U.K.'s Exeter University - back to his native Rwanda because he has no legal right to stay in the country.

As an asylum seeker, it is believed that he was initially allowed to remain in the U.K. for five years, a period which ended in 2007. The Sense And Sensibility star has regularly spoken of her pride for her 'adopted' son, who refers to Thompson as his "mum", calling him "a lovely, enchanting boy".

-Check out Emma Thompson's Filmography

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)