CAMPAIGNERS are fighting to prevent the deportation tomorrow of a trafficking victim forced to work on a UK cannabis farm.
Duc Nguyen served a six month sentence for his involvement in the illegal enterprise, but accepted he was a trafficking victim last August.
However, his asylum claim was refused and the Glasgow man is scheduled to be put on a flight out of the UK tomorrow. The churchgoer, who volunteers at the city's Lambhill Stables, fears he will be killed by the drugs gang that trafficked him if he is sent back.
Yesterday supporters urged the Home Office to cancel the removal and called on Qatar Airways not to participate.
The Home Office said it does not comment on individual cases, but Duc's councillor Kim Long rallied backers to contact the airline and Heathrow Airport on his behalf. The Green councillor told followers on Twitter: "I just spoke to Duc. He said 'I am very worried. I know you are all working very hard for me and I really appreciate that. I am so anxious – I know nothing about my future. I'm just waiting.'"
Duc, who is in his 40s, told how he planned to escape the gang who held him, but the property he was kept in was rigged with live power to prevent him opening doors or windows.
His MP Paul Sweeney has pressed the Home Secretary for action, telling Commonspace: "A Home Office competent authority on potential victims of human trafficking concluded last August that there were reasonable grounds to conclude that Mr Nguyen was a victim of trafficking.
"That conclusion raises questions about whether Mr Nguyen's offences were committed under duress.
"Since his conviction appears to form the basis of the Home Office's case for removal I think it is important that every avenue is exhausted before the Deportation Order is enforced.”
Around 3000 people have signed a petition against the deportation at www.change.org.
To view or add your name, visit www.change.org/p/caroline-nokes-stop-the-deportation-of-trafficking-victim-d.
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