A Conservative MP has written to Home Office ministers asking they reconsider a decision to deport a teenage Bristol City fan who was trafficked into Britain as a child.
Luke Hall has added his voice to growing calls from politicians and celebrities across Bristol to support 18-year-old Samet, who had to report this morning to answer bail at the police headquarters in Portishead.
Mr Hall is the sitting Conservative MP for Thornbury and Yate, and has written to Home Secretary Priti Patel to ask for immigration officials to take another look at Samet’s case.
Samet’s foster father John Stokes took the teenager to the police headquarters in Portishead from their home in Yate this morning to answer bail, fearing he would be taken into custody.
'This is so wrong'
“His crimes were being trafficked as a child to the UK and becoming 18,” said John. “This is so wrong.”
Officials at the reporting centre did not take Samet into custody and extended his bail, and he must report again to the police centre in Patchway in a few weeks.
The teenager spent his childhood from the age of 11 under the control of gangs in his native Albania and was trafficked into this country at the age of 15 to work as a modern-day slave.
But he managed to escape their clutches and was taken in by foster carer John Stokes, who has fostered more than 60 vulnerable children in Bristol and South Gloucestershire over the past three decades.
Samet, who suffers from PTSD from his ordeal, went to school and now attends college in Filton, and is training to be a carpenter, but when he turned 18, and became an adult, the Home Office refused him the right to remain in this country, and then a judge turned down his appeal.
Mr Stokes said he regards Samet as a member of his family, and his campaign and petition to get the Home Office to overturn that decision has gone viral.
When Bristol Live first reported on the case, fewer than a thousand people had signed - but now the petition has almost 120,000 signatures.
Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees, and several of the city’s MPs, have expressed their support, as has .
And SGS College, which Samet attends, are looking to create a video to accompany a track called ‘I’m a Soldier’ by Dredd, which has been released as part of the ‘A Future for Samet’ campaign.
Mr Stokes said Samet’s case highlighted the issue of what happens to children who are trafficked into the UK and allowed to stay by the authorities - because they are children - but then deported back as soon as they turn 18.
He said he was determined to speak out for all of those in that situation - particularly children brought here by Albanian gangs.
“That song ‘I’m a Soldier’ is so pertinent, because a lot of these children, like Samet, have PTSD from their horrendous experiences, and they are like broken soldiers.
“I want that record to highlight all the young people like Samet, now in hiding. I feel it is my duty, suddenly having a voice from the campaign, to make the next Government reconsider how they treat these young people.
“My intention is to call for an amnesty so that they can come out of hiding, lead normal lives and our society will benefit,” he added.
Samet’s case mirrors that of Stiven Bregu, a teenager who was dumped by people traffickers on a roundabout at night just outside Bristol, just after he turned 14, but went on to ace his exams at school, and win a prestigious apprenticeship at a top Bristol investments firm.
He was refused the right to remain in Britain after he turned 18 earlier this year, but a huge campaign from his school and Mayor Marvin Rees forced a judge to reconsider, and give him leave to stay.
And two years ago another of Mr Stokes’ foster children, an Albanian teenager called Ali, won an appeal against a decision to deport him when he turned 18, after a judge heard he was a building a life for himself as a top chef - he’s now head chef at a Bristol restaurant.
For the latest news in and around Bristol, check back on Bristol Live's homepage .
