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RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: may 2021 :: RMTnews 28 The oil fields off Scotland’s east coast have always bubbled with fascinating stories. But before Abdul Mkith’s colleagues met him, it’s unlikely they had ever heard anything like his. Born in Sylhet, Bangladesh, “a beautiful place, magical place”, he was brought to Britain aged 10 by a friend of his father’s - who was so close to the family, Abdul considered her his relative. The family was in trouble after politicians took against Abdul’s father, a village elder. “Politicians started fighting with my dad, things went wrong in the country. A lot of people respected my dad - but a lot of people didn’t like him”. The next few years would be a tumultuous journey. His relative’s apparent benevolence was in fact an act of child trafficking. When he was discovered during a drugs raid in the Scottish Highlands aged 14, he had suffered years of slavery and torture. For Abdul, an offshore cleaner and RMT member of eight years standing, the biggest miracle is that he survived to tell the tale. And tell it he has, in a successful memoir, The Locket and a Five Taka Note - the title reflecting Abdul’s sole possessions on his arrival in Britain. It tells the story not only of his childhood suffering - but his survival, recovery and continued struggles with his mental health. Abdul was then brought up by foster parents in Wick - the northernmost tip of Scotland. Having missed out on years of school, he had a lot of catching up to do. And the years of abuse had left a heavy mark. “I started writing because there were so many things going on in my head. I couldn’t focus anymore. I was learning English and my teacher said: ‘maybe you need to write it down’. I said: ‘I cannot write’”. But Abdul’s teacher suggested that he record his memories and thoughts, and then suggested turning it into a book with the help of novelist Catherine M Byrne. “She asked me questions, the book was [finished] in a year, and she said: ‘I want to take this book out, it’s going to help a lot of people’”. Abdul’s ‘relative’ had assured his family he would get a better education in a place of safety. His parents let him travel to Britain on the basis he would come back in “six months, a year, it’s not a big deal”. But the reality was very different. Abdul had originally been put to work in a restaurant - pocketing his wages, of course. It was there he was introduced to drug gangs and a man told him: ‘you’re going to come with me, I’ll take you to Bangladesh, I’ll educate you’, and everything else. ‘We’ll make you a passport, take you to Bangladesh, [you can] see your parents.’ I thought, great news, maybe he’s a nice guy - I was about ten years old. So, I went to him. And then my life started going to hell from there.” It was not just his own A TUMULTUOUS JOURNEY Conrad Landin talks with RMT member Abdul Mkith about his new book on escaping slavery and exploitation to become an offshore worker