Resource

Survivors of human trafficking are victims of serious crime and grave human rights abuses. Yet in the United Kingdom many survivors - particularly non-British nationals - are instead treated as offenders. Rather than receiving protection, they are frequently arrested, prosecuted, imprisoned, detained under immigration powers and excluded from support because of offences that are directly linked to their trafficking and exploitation.

Over the past decade, the UK has introduced new immigration or asylum legislation almost every year. Yet people seeking safety are still left waiting years for final asylum decisions, forced into poverty while they wait, and too often falling through the gaps of a failing system. Survivors of trafficking are too often not identified and denied the support they need to recover and reduce the risk of further exploitation. The Immigration and Asylum Bill does not address these fundamental problems – it worsens them.

The Immigration and Asylum Bill published yesterday will significantly weaken the UK’s response to trafficking and modern slavery. It will deny protection, support and recovery to many survivors. It penalises survivors for their trauma by setting arbitrary deadlines for disclosure of painful experiences. This approach punishes survivors, will embolden traffickers and in doing so enable exploitation to thrive.