Nam’s story - what the Immigration and Asylum Bill means for trafficking survivors.
Nam is a young male Vietnamese national. He was orphaned at a very young age and had a limited education in Vietnam. He began working in the construction industry but became involved with loan sharks, and he was unable to repay them. He tried to run away, but they found him, and he was physically assaulted, causing lasting injuries.
Nam fled Vietnam with the assistance of an agent. He was not given a choice of where he would be travelling to. On the journey, he was told he would have to work in the UK to pay for the cost of his travel. Nam arrived in the UK by small boat. On arrival, he informed the authorities about what had happened to him in Vietnam and claimed asylum. He was then accommodated in various different forms of asylum housing around the UK.
Nam was contacted on social media by someone offering him work, and he said yes because he needed the money. He went to the place he was due to have a meeting about the work and was grabbed and forced into a car. Nam was threatened, and the men had weapons. He understands that these men were connected with the agents that had arranged his travel to the UK, who had told him that he had to work to repay the cost of his travel.
Nam was then forced to work in various cannabis houses. He was told how to do the work of cultivating cannabis. He did not want to do this, but he felt he had no choice because of the threats he had received. He was forbidden from leaving the houses, and he was never paid for any of the work. Nam was told that he must not tell anyone anything about the work or who was involved – the men said they had people everywhere and that if he said anything they would kill him. Generally, he was alone in the houses, but there were cameras. Nam made one attempt to escape, but he was caught and beaten severely, and he was too afraid to make any further attempts.
The cannabis house that Nam was in was raided by the police, and he was arrested, but he was too afraid to tell the police officers that he had been forced to work there. Despite this, the police made a referral to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) as there were clear indicators that Nam had been a victim of trafficking. At the time, Nam was unaware of the NRM referral or what it meant.
While he was awaiting trial, Nam was contacted by the gang, and he was warned that he should plead guilty or he would be killed. Additionally, his criminal solicitor told him that he did not have a defence and should plead guilty because he was the only one in the property when the police raided it. Nam was convicted and sentenced to nine months. At the end of his sentence, he was transferred to an Immigration Removal Centre for several months before eventually being released.
Nam was unaware that an NRM referral had been made or what the NRM process meant. He did not receive any advice about it until over two years later when he sought support from a local NGO who discovered that a negative reasonable grounds decision had been made because there was insufficient information for a positive decision. Following pre-action correspondence sent by ATLEU, this decision was withdrawn, and Nam received a positive reasonable grounds decision and is now waiting for a conclusive grounds decision. He is receiving much-needed support under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract to assist with his recovery needs. Nam has significant mental health needs as a result of his experiences both in Vietnam and the UK and would like to start receiving therapy. Nam has no other convictions.
Under the new Immigration and Asylum Bill, if enacted, Nam could be automatically subject to public order disqualification action because of his criminal conviction, despite it being connected entirely to his trafficking experience. He would have all support removed.
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