I was trafficked, then detained and released, only to be left homeless

Arjeta escaped criminal gang only to be threatened with deportation... now she's lost her home as well

- By LIAM THORP

A HUMAN trafficking victim who won her battle to return to Liverpool from immigration detention now faces homelessness in the city she loves.

Arjeta Folla, originally from Albania, was trafficked to the UK by criminals in 2019 believing she was coming here for a job and a new life.

Instead she found herself forced by gangsters to live in a house in Coventry for a year, where she had to grow cannabis and was not allowed to leave without the supervision of the criminals who were controlling her.

When she was eventually freed after a police raid on the property, the 47-year-old went to live in a safe house operated by the Salvation Army in Liverpool. She was grateful for her new existence and fell in love with the city.

But her new life then came under threat from a different direction - the government. Having moved into Home Office accommodation while seeking asylum, she had her claim to remain here rejected.

But this was despite the UK having a distinct route for people to be allowed to remain here if they have been a victim of modern slavery.

On October 1, as she went for her regular check-in at the Home Office in the Capital Building in Liverpool city centre, Arjeta became nervous.

She recalled: “The lady was very cold with me. She asked me to wait for a few minutes while they updated my information, then a man came in and asked me to follow him.

“I knew I was going to be detained.”