Resource

Shortly before the general election, Jess Phillips, now the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence against Women and Girls, highlighted that in recent years survivors of human trafficking and modern slavery had “seen their rights and protections attacked as part of the government’s hostile immigration policies”. She recognised that providing survivors with “expert legal advice, safe accommodation, mental health support, independent advocacy and secure immigration status” was vital for their recovery. Now, with a new Labour government in power, it is time to act. We urgently need changes to the support system for survivors and a demonstration of true commitment to addressing trafficking in the UK.  

One of those changes is the provision of secure immigration status to survivors who have been trafficked to the UK from abroad and/or have experienced trafficking while on their journey to the UK or during their time in the UK. In response to a number of legal challenges, the Home Office is reviewing its policy in this area. This is the perfect opportunity for it to introduce a system that upholds international law and allows survivors to rebuild their lives in safety.   

Without permission to be in the UK (‘leave to remain’), survivors constantly experience fear and anxiety about the possibility of their removal from the country or being held in immigration detention. This deters many from coming forward to seek help. Even those who are formally identified as survivors of trafficking can struggle to obtain the secure immigration status that they need. A lack of a secure immigration status can also result in poverty, destitution and isolation as it prevents survivors from working and accessing services. This in turn increases their vulnerability to abuse, exploitation and re-trafficking. 

Very few granted leave to remain 

Despite that, very few survivors of trafficking were granted leave to remain in 2023.  Once a person has been officially recognised as ‘victims of trafficking’, the Home Office should automatically consider whether they should be given a grant of leave to remain in the UK. But last year our research revealed that a shockingly low number of confirmed survivors of trafficking had received this. Instead, they were left in limbo and reliant on the asylum system as a safety net. This is despite the high risk of re-trafficking that many would face if returned to their country of origin or if they were left living precariously in the UK.   

In January 2023, the Conservative government narrowed the criteria for granting leave even further. Survivors of trafficking with a positive ‘conclusive grounds’ decision (i.e. those who had recognised by the National Referral Mechanism to be victims) would only be granted what was called ‘VTS leave’ if necessary to assist in their recovery from physical or psychological harm arising from their exploitation; enable them to seek compensation; or enable them to assist with criminal proceedings. If any of these could be achieved in the survivor’s country of origin they could be refused leave.   

Predictably, this left hundreds of survivors without secure status. In 2023, 3,139 adults were confirmed as victims of trafficking but only 113 received a grant of VTS leave to assist with their recovery and fewer than 10 received a grant to assist the authorities. This is around half of the grants of leave made in 2022.  

Not only was the policy harmful to survivors, but it was also not in accordance with international law. The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (ECAT), which the UK has signed and reiterated its commitment to, makes clear leave should take in “a range of situations, depending on whether it is the victim’s safety, state of health, family situation or some other factor which has to be taken into account”.  

Asylum system as safety net 

For clients of the Helen Bamber Foundation (HBF), leave is often only granted after strong legal representations have been submitted, usually accompanied by our clinical evidence. We see leave being refused on the grounds that an individual can theoretically get appropriate treatment in their home country. But no individual assessments are undertaken to establish whether a person could in practice access the support they need. Nor are any assessments made as to whether that individual might be at risk of being re-trafficked if returned.  

Survivors frequently, therefore, have to rely on the asylum system as the only way of receiving long-term support to assist their recovery. 93% of HBF clients who are survivors of trafficking are in both the NRM and the asylum system. But the asylum backlog created after the Illegal Migration Act 2023 became law has left many survivors in limbo for months. The government’s commitment to swiftly returning people from countries such as Albania and Vietnam without considering their asylum claim is extremely concerning.  

What is even more worrying is that the few survivors who are granted leave are usually only given a very short period of time, which is wholly insufficient for their long-term needs and does not provide the necessary feeling of security for them to begin their recovery process. In 2023, over half were granted leave for less than a year. In one case, an HBF client received such a short period of leave that their leave expired before they could apply for benefits and housing, resulting in them receiving no benefit from the grant of leave at all, and indeed adding to their distress. 

There is a wealth of evidence emphasising the need to give recognised victims of trafficking stability, security, and support. What is now needed is the political will to ensure that the UK both upholds its international legal obligations and genuinely offers protection to survivors of trafficking. This must include automatically granting those with a positive conclusive grounds decisions support and leave to remain for at least 30 months with a route to settlement.