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Forced to make a Promise, should i keep it?

Asalam o Alaikum, The purpose of this question is to find guidance and determine the correct course of action for myself in the light of Quran and Sunnah , please help me, I am a migrant in the UK , after studies I was sponsored by my current employer and this sponsorship visa after eight years of hard work has lead to my permanent residency. Without going into too many details the work taken by my employer during this period was also exploitative , we were given less rate for loads and loads of work. Now that my permanent residency was near , i needed a letter from my employer so that i can apply for my visa , without this letter i would not be able to get my permanent residency . I have lived in this country for the past ten years in very difficult conditions making many sacrifices . Now that finally i was about to become free from visa shackles , my employer sat me down and forced me to make a promise otherwise he will not give me the letter needed for permanent residence. The promise was not to open a similar business or work for any competitor, not just in London but anywhere in the UK. I have learnt these skills in a very long time giving away my most precious eight years of my life to learning these skills and suddenly he asks me to make a promise , not to open a similar business and not to work for any competitor. This promise was never there in the beginning when i was hired , he never told me in the beginning that at the end he will make me promise such a thing, Sir my question is i had to make a promise and oath to get the letter for vise otherwise i would end up wasting the last ten years of my life (2 years as a student and 8 years working in such harsh conditions), my question is that i never wanted to make promise , it was forced with the threat that he will not give me letter, Do i still need to fulfill my promise ? even through it was forced ? what is the guidance in Islam (Quran and Sunnah ) about it . I am looking for a guidance as i dont have knowledge about it , I want to open my own business , i will open in a different city not in direct competition with him , he will not suffer because of me. but the terms of oath were that i cant do that anywhere in the UK infact anywhere in the world. Please i am looking for guidance.