In January of this year the U.K. Home Office introduced new guidance for those claiming asylum as victims of modern slavery, requiring survivors to provide immediate “objective evidence” of their exploitation to submit as part of their case.
The Home Office has now withdrawn the policy after it was found to be unlawful. Two trafficking survivors who were refused protection under the policy brought a legal challenge against the Home Office, arguing that the guidance breached the European Convention on Human Rights, and was unfair and “irrational” given the unlikelihood of trafficking victims to have immediate proof of their exploitation.
This week the government bowed to the pressure and withdrew the policy, halting decisions on all pending modern slavery cases while the guidance is rewritten. During the time the unfair guidance was in place, negative decisions on modern slavery cases rocketed, leaving victims unprotected and without professional counseling, safe accommodation, financial support and vulnerable to abusers.
The position of Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner has been sitting vacant since Dame Sara Thornton left the role over a year ago due to Home Office delays in appointing a successor. This means that when key changes to existing modern slavery protections were made there was no independent watchdog to monitor or comment on the activities.
Consideration of the “objective evidence” guidance, the drawing up of the harmful Refugee Ban Bill, and a linked expansion of the Rwanda deal to allow the deportation of trafficking victims all took place as the chair sat vacant.
Ministers justified the recent changes with unsubstantiated claims that people reaching the U.K. through irregular routes were “abusing” modern slavery protections to seek asylum. But Freedom United along with After Exploitation and the Centre for Public Data and other charities, has repeatedly raised concerns that it is a misleading use of data to suggest fraudulent use of the system.
It is false claims like this that lead to hostile immigration policies which perpetuate modern slavery and exploitation and put people at greater risk of trafficking. Safe and humane migration systems are necessary to support trafficking survivors and build people’s resilience to trafficking.
While the Home Office rushes to publish new guidance, a backlog of cases is building up. The Independent estimates based on existing data that for each day the pause is in place, around a dozen modern slavery decisions will build up with the current wait time already sitting at 18 months. The Home Office has stated it intends to publish the new version by 10 July. In the interim, no cases can be rejected.
