At the age of 17, H was trafficked from Vietnam. He was subjected to severe sexual and physical violence and debt bondage and was forced to grow and tend to cannabis plants in Chesterfield, Derbyshire on an empty property for three months. Then, he was caught by police.
H’s capture should’ve been his saving grace. Police had found him locked inside the property, but instead of escaping from his traffickers to freedom, he was sentenced to eight months in Glen Parva young offenders institution.
From there, H was transferred directly to Morton Hall, an immigration removal centre in Lincolnshire, where he was illegally detained and sexually assaulted by another inmate.
Now, H has had his conviction overturned and has been awarded £85,000 in compensation – £82,000 by the Home Office for illegally detaining him and £3,000 by the Ministry of Justice, for failing to protect H while he was being detained.
Trafficking, Violence And Sexual Assault
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These horrific immigration detention centres deprive people of their liberty, strip them of their humanity and expose them to further abuse.
Ahmed Aydeed, Director of Public Law at Duncan Lewis
When H arrived at Morton Hall, he had told staff and doctors that he was a victim of trafficking and sexual assault.
After another inmate attempted to rape him, management at the centre argued that it was not a “serious” incident and H was unaffected by the attack.
However, clinical psychologists who assessed H found that he was severely traumatised by the attack, as it triggered memories of the physical and sexual violence he endured when being trafficked into the cannabis industry.
Wrongfully Detained
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Despite identifying H as a victim of trafficking and modern slavery, the Home Office continued to try and deport him for a further six months after the attempted rape – a move which the Home Office has admitted broke its own policies.
H’s detention was only put to an end, and the rape attempt was only investigated, after his lawyers, from the law firm Duncan Lewis, threatened legal action.
People will continue to suffer until the nation wakes up to the injustice of immigration detention.
Ahmed Aydeed, Director of Public Law at Duncan Lewis
“Our client was a heartbeat away from being removed unlawfully by the home secretary, after he was falsely imprisoned for a year and subjected to sexual assault at Morton Hall immigration detention centre,” said Ahmed Aydeed, director of public law at Duncan Lewis.
“These horrific immigration detention centres deprive people of their liberty, strip them of their humanity and expose them to further abuse. They have no basis in a civilised society, and people will continue to suffer in them until the nation wakes up to the injustice of immigration detention,” Aydeed added.
