I was trafficked into UK & now manage bank
WHEN Nilany Vasantharasan clambered through the back of a lorry tarpaulin as a child refugee, she was nearly starving.
Nilany, eight, her sister Panjua, seven, and brother, 11, had fled the war in Sri Lanka two years before with their mother, and had been in the clutches of a secretive people trafficking operation ever since. Having taken on a huge debt to escape, the family had just £20 left.
They walked into a motorway service station near birmingham and shortly afterwards were driven away by police.
Like so many others fleeing there was never a safe, legal option – which Priti Patel this week used as justification for deporting refugees to Rwanda.
Nilany, 32, represents a success story the Government would rather hide. A manager for Metro bank in Aylesbury, bucks, she earned two degrees after paying her way through university.
Disheartening
Since being granted asylum, she has worked hard, learned English from scratch – and is proud to say she has never claimed a penny in benefits.
“I was really disappointed,” she says of the Home Secretary’s widely criticised deterrent scheme. “To say that people coming from other countries aren’t going to contribute is really disheartening. I’d like to think I’ve contributed to british society.”
Nilany also volunteers with charity World Vision, giving talks about her experiences to inspire others. She says: “Having taken that journey and knowing that there is a child who might not have the opportunity I’ve had is really difficult to process.
“These policies that are put in place without understanding the people at the heart of it are made by people who haven’t experienced it. Children are our future; politicians come and go.” ■■World Vision is raising money to help children in war zones survive. To help go to www.worldvision.org.uk/donate