Leave to Remain for an EU national-how is his possible?

[Ewelinkka91]

Hello,
One of my acquaintances is in a really strange situation. He is a young man from an East European country that belongs to the EU. A few years ago, he was trafficked into the UK and due to his illiteracy got involved into some financial crimes. He escaped from his traffickers, reported everything to the police and received help and support from one charity organization. It was later stated that he became a victim of modern slavery. Recently, he needed to provide his fingerprints to the Home Office and received a biometric residence permit valid for 1 year with the right to work. In the letter attached it is written that he has no automatic right to stay in the UK under immigration rules, so he needs to renew his permit next year. But how is it possible that an EU national is being treated nearly the same as those outside the EU? On the back of his permit, there is the name of his native EU country as his place of birth. Is there a separate law for modern slavery victims, or is this just an error?

[secret.simon]

He is a young man from an East European country that belongs to the EU.

Being from a country does not automatically make you a citizen of that country. Indeed, two Baltic countries have a separate category of "non-citizens" resident in them from Soviet times.

In order for him to be treated under EEA Regulations, he needs to prove that he is a citizen of an EEA member-state. Did he furnish any such proof (passport or ID card)? If he was deprived of it, has he tried contacting his country's embassy/consulate to acquire a new passport/ID card?