Resource

New data reveals that while over 4,240 non-British nationals were confirmed to be victims of trafficking in 2024, only 176 victims were granted permission to stay in the UK (‘leave to remain’) - just 4%. 4,064 adults were refused a grant of leave, despite many needing to stay in the country for their recovery and to assist with the prosecution of their traffickers. This new report from HBF, ATLEU and ECPAT UK looks at the harm caused to adult and child victims of trafficking left with insecure immigration status.

A first-of-its-kind clinical study by the Helen Bamber Foundation and the University of Hertfordshire looked at the mental health impact of living in hotel accommodation on people seeking protection in the UK. It found that those forced to live in asylum hotels experience significantly higher levels of distress and depression compared to people living in alternative accommodation.

Despite mounting evidence of the profound harm it causes, the Home Office continues its practice of wrongly assessing children who come to the UK alone to seek protection, as adults. For the third year in a row, the Helen Bamber Foundation’s data shows that hundreds of child refugees are continuing to be incorrectly treated as adults after a visual assessment of age at the border and placed with strangers in adult accommodation and even adult prisons.