A significant court ruling could stop the Home Office from deporting many young male trafficking victims to Albania.
In recent years, the UK has identified thousands of Albanian men and boys as potential victims of trafficking. Even so, the Home Office returns many confirmed victims to Albania on the basis that they will be safe there.
The ruling could deal a heavy blow to the Government, which wants to increase removals. Over the last five years, Albanians have been the nationality most often forcibly removed from the UK. In the 12 months to the end of March, the UK deported 2,247 Albanians, a quarter of all enforced returns.
Data disclosed during the case shows a shift in who the traffickers target. Albanian women and girls were once the main victims, trafficked into the UK sex industry. Males, mostly boys and young men, have now overtaken them. Gangs traffic them into the drugs trade, to deal drugs or to work as “gardeners” on cannabis farms.
In 2022, UK services received referrals for 4,107 Albanian males over potential trafficking, compared with 502 females. In 2023, the figures were 3,463 males and 588 females.
The case came from a 21-year-old Albanian trafficking victim. An Albanian gang first exploited him in Belgium, when he visited the country with his father at the age of 16. That gang sold him to another Albanian gang, which brought him to the UK and forced him to grow cannabis.
He later escaped and gained recognition as a trafficking victim. His asylum claim failed, however, on the grounds that Albania would be safe for him.
Three senior judges in the Upper Tribunal of the immigration court have now accepted his asylum claim. Five years had passed since gangs first trafficked him, but the panel found he still faced a “real risk” from his traffickers. They ruled that he could not safely go back to Albania.
The judges also issued new guidance. The Home Office must now take it into account before deciding whether to return male trafficking victims to Albania.
The judgment accepted that Albania has made progress against corruption. However, it found that corruption remains widespread. It also found that Albania has no dedicated shelters for adult male trafficking victims, and that returned victims face a significant risk of being trafficked again.
Islington Law Centre has particular expertise in representing Albanian trafficking victims. It described disturbing methods that gangs use to control their victims. These include filming the sexual abuse of child victims and threatening to post the footage on social media. Gangs also show young people videos of their relatives in Albania, a signal that the gangs know who their families are. They also inflict physical injuries, such as broken bones, on children and young people.
The Home Office is reportedly considering an appeal against the decision.
