He’s a survivor of slavery at sea, now he’s facing deportation

Vishal Sharma is an experienced merchant seaman who became trapped in modern slavery. Now, despite testifying in court and appearing in a BBC documentary to try and bring the perpetrators to justice, an article in The Guardian reports that instead of finding justice, he and his family are facing deportation. 

“We are with you. You are in the UK, a safe country” 

When Sharma left India heading for London, he thought he was heading towards a good job on a Belgian tanker assisting engineers. Instead, in a classic bait and switch, his recruiters changed everything at the last minute. Sharma found himself on a scallop trawler with no wifi network. With no way to contact his Mumbai recruiter and threatened with deportation if he did not work, Sharma began to worry. 

Sharma stated: 

“I felt alone and afraid, at sea, there was no easy way out. They told me, ‘We will call the police, you don’t have the right documents, you will go to jail.’ It is very dangerous work, you can’t argue with the captain, when the ship is rolling and pitching. Anything could happen. You are at sea. It is scary.” 

Sharma’s next three weeks were a blur working 18-to-20-hour days without proper safety equipment or meals. After being transferred to another boat, he was met by police officers. Sharma thought the nightmare was over. He and the other workers were taken into the station where officers asked him to explain everything that had happened, telling him, “We are with you. You are in the UK, a safe country.” So, Sharma told them his story, expecting justice to be done.  

Of no value and left in the lurch 

The UK Home Office recognized Sharma as a victim of modern slavery. And when the police asked him to help in the criminal case by giving evidence in court, he readily agreed. Sharma also appeared on a BBC documentary, Disclosure: Slavery at Sea which shone a light on the 35 men who worked on vessels owned by TN Trawlers and its sister companies, of which Sharma was one. Survivors of Human Trafficking in Scotland, is an NGO that supported many of the 35 migrant fishers who appeared on the BBC’s documentary. Frustratingly, the criminal investigation into what happened to Sharma was dropped and no cases of human trafficking or modern slavery have come to trial from the evidence provided by the men. 

Joy Gillespie, the CEO of Survivors of Human Trafficking Scotland, stated: 

“These men have done everything they could to help make a prosecution happen. But when it doesn’t work out, they are of no value, and they are left in the lurch. If we are to bring these difficult trafficking prosecutions, we have to be more victim focused and give them our support.” 

While The Crown Office in Scotland acknowledges that Sharma is a victim of a crime, after years of helping the authorities in Scotland, Sharma’s claim for asylum has been denied. He and his wife and baby are facing deportation back to India where Sharma fears their lives will be in danger due to his whistleblowing. His agents in Mumbai learned he had spoken to the police. As a result, the agents assaulted his father, and Sharma says he has received death threats. He is also now suffering bouts of depression. 

What happened to Sharma could happen again 

Chris Williams, of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), says the industry has a major problem. The current system ties migrant workers to one vessel. This puts them at the mercy of the skipper and increases their vulnerability to exploitation. The ITF is calling for fishers to be included in the Fair Work Agency, a new state enforcement agency being proposed in the government’s employment rights bill. A bill that is right now making its way through parliament. Investigators Stephanie Hill and Carolin Ott are solicitors looking into claims from other exploited migrant fishers. 

They shared: 

“We are concerned that the exploitation of migrant fishers and seafarers for the purposes of forced labor and other forms of modern slavery are not being properly investigated by the police and the Home Office, who have a duty to investigate instances and risks of trafficking and forced labor.”  

Freedom United stands beside survivors of slavery at sea, the ITF and all those calling for greater protections for fishers. A spokesperson for the Home Office says the government is determined to tackle “the scourge of modern slavery” but adds: “The right to claim asylum in the UK is an entirely separate process from the support an individual may be entitled to as a victim of modern slavery.”