FACTBOX-Victims of modern slavery in Britain

(Reuters) - Two hundred years after Britain abolished the slave trade, it is home to thousands of men, women and children who have been tricked, coerced or intimidated into prostitution or forced labor.

Following are some brief case histories of people who have fallen victim to such "modern slavery" practices in Britain:

PROSTITUTION -- LIEN*, CHINESE

"I was trafficked to the UK two years ago from China. I had tried to escape from my aunt, who had kept me as a prostitute in her house after my parents died when I was 13.

"One of the men who visited me at my aunt's house offered to help me escape. He told my aunt he wanted to take me out for the day, and gave her some money. Instead he took me to the airport and brought me to England. He arranged my travel and told me he had arranged immigration papers for me. He paid for everything.

"He was nice to me but that changed when we arrived here. He left me at a brothel. He had sold me and gone back to China.

"I was made to work as a prostitute again. They threatened me and kept me locked up. I managed to escape in the middle of the night. I walked for three days before anybody helped me, and then a stranger called the police for me.

"I am very tired now, all the time, and I have very bad nightmares. I am still depressed. I think I always will be."

DOMESTIC WORKER -- LEILA*, SRI LANKA

"I came to the UK when I was 29 with a family I worked for in Jordan. The lady of the house treated me very badly and I had to sleep on a sofa bed in the sitting room.

"I had to work 16-18 hours every day, I was not allowed any day-off for the first two years and only earned 200 pounds per month. I was given only leftovers or onion and potatoes to eat. I was automatically blamed for any missing food.

"I was deliberately kept without visa, so that I could not run away. The only time I was allowed out of the house was to go shopping in the local supermarket. One day when I was there, I was told about Kalayaan (a west London charity helping abused migrant domestic workers). Eventually, I managed to get in touch with them and got help."

HOTEL WORK -- ANNA*, LATVIA

"A friend put me in touch with a representative of an English recruitment agency in the capital Riga. When I arrived in the UK, I was taken to Hull. I had to pay a 200 pound ($390) signing fee just to register with the agency. I worked for various hotels in the town, mainly doing cleaning. My salary was paid direct to the agency. But the agency only paid me occasionally and they made various deductions."

Anna managed to leave, but is still owed for her work.

FOOD PROCESSING -- SERGEI*, BULGARIA

"A friend said he could get us work as IT specialists in the UK. We had to pay fees for the job finding, such as arrangement of all of the administrative requirements. When we came to England, we were told that there was no IT job available and that we had to work in a fish processing factory instead. High deductions were made from our pay for accommodation, transport and food, leaving us with only a couple of pounds each week. Our shift started in the morning and finished at night; we did not see daylight for months. Our passports were taken away from us, and we were threatened with violence and deportation if we complained."

* Not his/her real name

Sources: The Poppy Project (wweaves4women.co.uk), Kalayaan (www.kalayaan.org.uk), Anti-Slavery International (www.antislavery.org)