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Mahmut Selimaj immigrated to Britain illegally thinking he would be able to work hard and get a good salary. But he ended up in debt to those who smuggled him into Britain.
An Albanian who worked on a cannabis farm has been advised by a judge to tell any countryman thinking of entering the UK illegally that they are likely to end up in debt and exploited by criminal gangs.
Mahmut Selimaj immigrated to Britain illegally thinking he would be able to work hard and get a good salary. But he ended up in debt to those who smuggled him into Britain.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the debt left the Albanian youth vulnerable to exploitation forcing him to work on a cannabis farm in Northumberland to pay off the debts. On December 22 last year, police forced their way into a commercial property in Ashington and, as they did so, Selimaj was seen climbing out of the flat's roof. He was arrested and the police found 173 cannabis plants in the process of cultivation.
The court heard that the 26-year-old had entered the UK illegally. He applied for asylum in 2022, but after a breach of the asylum process the application was withdrawn.
Defense attorney Andreë Walker, defending, said: "It's an unfortunately familiar tale. He did not come to Britain to become a criminal. He naively hoped he could work hard for a reasonable wage, but those who come to this country are often indebted to those who bring them, and their indebtedness often makes them contingent for exploitation.
Selimaj pleaded guilty to the production of cannabis and was sentenced to six months in prison. Recorder Toby Hedworth KC told him: “You came to the UK illegally but I am satisfied that you came with the intention of making a legitimate life here by working hard. Unfortunately, as the courts know all too well, the debt often associated with your coming to the UK illegally means you are exposed to exploitation by the same criminal gangs that brought you here."
In the end, the judge had a piece of advice for the young Albanian.
"I hope that your very quick return to Albania will also give you the opportunity to show others in your country that traveling to the UK illegally is likely to lead not only to significant debts to criminal gangs, but also in exploiting them in the same way as you were exploited. So it is much better advised not to try to come here in the first place.”
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