Modern Slavery Act and its erosion

The UK's Modern Slavery Act of 2015 was a landmark law designed to compel large businesses to address forced labor in their supply chains while also strengthening protections for victims. However, nearly a decade later, these protections are being significantly weakened by immigration-focused policies that have made it harder for victims to access support.

The introduction of stricter immigration rules in 2023 shifted the political focus toward controlling the increasing number of migrants arriving in the UK via small boats. This shift has inadvertently left thousands of modern slavery victims without assistance or too afraid to seek help due to the risk of deportation, according to government officials, law enforcement personnel, judges, and charity workers interviewed by Reuters.

A rise in rejections for victims

Under the new regulations, victims are required to provide more substantial proof of exploitation before qualifying for state support. As a result, rejection rates for modern slavery cases have surged from 11% in 2022 to 45% in 2023, and 46% in the first nine months of 2024, official data shows.

In 2023, the Home Office identified approximately 17,000 potential victims of modern slavery, with an additional 13,587 cases recorded in the first three quarters of 2024. Many victims were migrants forced to work in nail salons, car washes, the sex industry, or the drug trade. However, a report by a House of Lords committee estimated that the true number of victims could be as high as 130,000.

Despite criticisms, the Labour government, which took office in July 2024, has not amended the stricter immigration rules. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's administration recently upheld a Conservative-era ban on asylum seekers claiming modern slavery protections, despite Starmer previously arguing that such policies undermined protections for trafficked individuals.

Government justification vs. lack of evidence

The Home Office claims that its policies are designed to clear the backlog of modern slavery claims and enhance measures against traffickers. "It is unacceptable that thousands of vulnerable individuals, mostly women and children, are being forced to work against their will while suffering abuse," a government spokesperson stated.

Yet, critics argue that the government has provided no concrete evidence to support claims that the system was widely misused by migrants seeking to evade deportation. Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, a retired judge who reviewed the Modern Slavery Act, noted that despite the government's concerns, it had failed to present proof that large numbers of migrants were falsely claiming to be victims.

Between January and September 2024, only eight cases of bad-faith claims were recorded, compared to thousands of legitimate referrals. In 2023, no such cases were identified.

Case study: a victim denied support

A Filipino woman, whose name has been withheld for safety reasons, fled an abusive employer in Qatar while on a family trip to London. Despite suffering long hours, physical violence, and sexual abuse, her claim for protection under the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) was initially denied due to insufficient information—a reason that accounted for only 3-4% of rejections in 2020-2022 but soared to 54% in 2023 and 53% in 2024.

With the assistance of a charity, she successfully appealed her rejection, but she now faces a prolonged wait for a final decision, which will determine whether she is formally recognized as a victim and granted temporary residency in the UK.

Disparities in treatment of foreign victims

Analysis by the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) suggests that foreign victims are disproportionately affected by the tightened regulations. In 2023-2024, 85% of British nationals received positive initial decisions on their modern slavery claims, compared to just 44% of foreign applicants—a much larger disparity than in previous years.

Further concerns arise over the quality of initial Home Office decisions. In the first nine months of 2024, approximately 68% of appeals against rejected applications were successful, suggesting systemic issues in the review process.

Challenges in identifying and supporting victims

Experts warn that the stricter rules are discouraging victims from coming forward, making it harder to dismantle trafficking networks. A former director of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) revealed that the agency now sometimes avoids referring potential victims to the NRM due to the high rejection rate.

For those who do gain recognition as victims, support is limited. A positive initial decision provides a small financial allowance of about £75 per week and, in some cases, accommodation. However, many migrant victims are still not allowed to work while awaiting a final ruling, which can take years.

The Home Office disclosed that it spent £124.6 million in 2023-2024 on victim support services, but this does not cover all programs, particularly those for child victims.

Policy impact and the future of modern slavery protections

Britain’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Eleanor Lyons, argues that the NRM does not offer enough benefits for traffickers to exploit it, and that broader immigration crackdowns—such as the previous plan to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda—have deterred victims from seeking help.

"We spoke to a victim who believed that if they reported their exploitation, they would automatically be sent to Rwanda," Lyons said, highlighting the chilling effect of immigration policies on victim protection efforts.

As the UK grapples with balancing immigration control and human rights obligations, experts and advocacy groups continue to urge the government to rethink policies that may be trapping modern slavery victims instead of helping them escape exploitation. Photo by Cheeseburger296, Wikimedia commons.