An Albanian boy who was trafficked to the UK when he was a child and is being fostered by a British man has lost his latest appeal to be allowed to stay in the country.
Samet was beaten and abused before being put on the streets of Albania to beg at the tender age of 11. He was then sold into slavery and trafficked to Belgium and then onwards to Bristol in the UK when he was 15. Thankfully, he escaped and ended up in the British care system.
He was then placed with a foster father, John Stokes, who previously fostered another young Albanian. Samet, a keen Bristol City supporter, now attends college and has plans to become a carpenter, but the British Home Office has other plans.
Despite getting top grades in his class and showing promise for the future, the British authorities want to deport Samet. The young man has post-traumatic stress disorder following his abusive childhood but feels like “part of the family” with Stokes.
The Home Office acknowledges that while Samet is a victim of crime, he is now over 18, and as Albania is considered a safe country, there is no reason he cannot be returned.
Statistics from the campaign group, Ever Child Protected Against Trafficking found that out of 754 child survivors of trafficking, between 2019 and 2020, only 17 have been granted the right to remain in the UK.
More than half a million people have signed a petition for Samet to stay in the UK, and celebrities and his favourite football club have also joined the calls.
While his case is before the courts, Samet cannot progress with his life. Despite his grades, he cannot get a job, continue his education, get an apprenticeship or even take his driving test.
“His life has been on hold; his fellow students at college have moved on with their lives.
He was the best student in his year – he has watched them for nearly two and a half years carry on their lives while he is basically in stagnation,” Stokes said.
While the latest loss is not the end of the road, the uncertainty is taking its toll.
Albanian Child Trafficking Victim with Severe PTSD Faces Deportation From the UK
“Over two and a half years now fighting for his Leave to Remain in the UK and telling him that we had lost another battle does not get any easier. We had built an excellent case, but it seems increasingly hard to win these cases. However, we will appeal again, but it is so difficult for him to maintain hope or look beyond the next day,” Stokes told Exit.
Stokes said he is keen to draw attention to the plight of other children and youngsters stuck in the UK’s immigration system.
For Samet, the next step is an appeal to the Upper Chamber of the Tribunal.
“I had to crush Samet’s dreams with the news that our latest appeal has failed. My belief in justice, humanity and compassion defeating cruelty is being sorely tested, and my energy is not what it was,” he said.
Albania is both a source, transit, and destination country for the trafficking of human beings. The situation whereby children are forced to beg and are trafficked elsewhere is sad but all too common.
While small steps have been taken to tackle the issue, much more needs to be done. In fact, the number of internal trafficking victims is increasing, and more than half of them are children.
In 2020, the Council of Europe noted that there was a low number of convictions for human trafficking offences and that seizure of assets was rare. They also observed that there was little in the way of support, protection, or compensation for survivors. Shortcomings were also noted in the reintegration of survivors into society, both socially and economically.
Their families reject many of those who are returned to Albania. This is due to shame, stigma, and financial burden. It’s also believed that at least 2% are at risk of being re-trafficked for sexual exploitation, begging, slave labour, or working for criminal gangs. Many more are at risk of being attacked or targeted by those that trafficked them initially.
The act of a family selling a child to traffickers has also been observed in Albania. This poses a risk to a child-like Samet, who may end up not being able to return to his family due to this risk, therefore being left homeless. The added issue of his PTSD diagnosis means he is more vulnerable to violence and crime and may struggle to get proper treatment.
Albania ranks last in Europe in terms of the number of psychiatrists about the size of the population. There is just one doctor per 100,000 people, equating to one doctor per 26 patients. Government spending on mental health also remains very low.
The petition calling for the Home Office to change its mind is here.
