Trafficking victim wins payout from Home Office after wrongful detention

Trafficked to the UK and raped for years, Abdul became homeless, got involved in crime and was threatened with deportation

The Home Office has paid £30,000 to a victim of child trafficking who was held illegally in immigration detention for several months despite having refugee status and showing clear signs of having been tortured and abused.

Abdul* (not his real name) was about seven when he was trafficked into the UK in the mid-90s. He thinks he came from Somalia but is not certain. He lived with adults who pretended to be his family but who abused him physically and sexually. One attempt to escape failed when police sent him back to his abusers. Suffering serious mental health problems as a teenager, he became street homeless and addicted to drugs.

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