Slavery survivor Mominul Hamid training to be lawyer

Mominul Hamid eventually escaped from his abusers and is training to be a lawyer thanks to the help of Sheffield-based City Hearts

A modern slavery survivor has told how he was forced to work unpaid in a restaurant for 14 hours a day after being trafficked into the UK.

Mominul Hamid from Bangladesh said he was duped into an arranged marriage with the promise of a "better life".

However, once in the UK he was forced to work unpaid for his wife's family.

He eventually escaped from his abusers and is training to be a lawyer thanks to the help of Sheffield-based City Hearts, an anti-trafficking charity.

Mr Hamid and his wife got married before they came to the UK and she moved over before him, where she gave birth to their son.

Mr Hamid, who now lives in Newcastle and is studying at Northumbria University, said there was a lot of physical abuse.

"I was only given food once a day and I wasn't paid a single penny," he said.

"The violence and the mental trauma was literally unbearable. I felt like I didn't have a choice - I had to accept it."

During the pandemic Mr Hamid (right) took part in vaccine trials and also helped deliver food parcels

Whenever he threatened to leave, the asylum seeker said he was told he would never see his son again.

He is now divorced and regularly sees his child with help from City Hearts.

The charity said it was currently supporting 700 survivors of modern slavery and trafficking in safe houses and communities all over the UK.

Mr Hamid said: "Like anyone, I hoped for a decent family life.

"But before I could move to the UK, my wife stopped contacting me and her parents threatened to cancel the visa documents."

Mr Hamid is still going through the asylum application process despite being in the UK since 2017

Instead of helping him get legal documents to come to the UK, Mr Hamid said his father-in-law made him travel to Belgium, where he was hidden inside a box in a lorry for the 21-hour journey to England.

"When I was dropped in Dover, my father-in-law was waiting," he said.

"He took my phone, documents, money, everything. But I got to meet my baby son for the first time.

"When I spoke to my family in Bangladesh it had to be on my father-in-law's phone in front of him. He threatened to call the police if I complained.

"He said I would be arrested and deported for being here illegally, and that I would never see my son again."

After several months, he said he found a phone at the restaurant and called a helpline and then the police.

Mominul Hamid is studying law and said he wants to be the "voice" of asylum seekers

When police arrived the family denied Mr Hamid was there but he managed to attract officers' attention through a window, and was rescued and supported by a City Hearts case worker.

"City Hearts helped me in my journey tremendously - my case worker was always there for me," he said.

'Study ban'

The charity said a criminal case against Mr Hamid's father-in-law was eventually dropped.

Mr Hamid, who is still going through the asylum application process despite being in the UK since 2017, won his own legal battle against the Home Office to overturn a "study ban" on asylum seekers.

He is also a community advocate for Amnesty International campaigning for the rights of asylum seekers to access higher education.

He added: "Asylum seekers and victims of trafficking should be given access to education so they can do good in the community.

"I am studying law and I will be their voice".