Government narrative around migration and modern slavery is concerning

CARE has expressed concern about the UK Government’s narrative around migration and modern slavery, as ministers threaten to tear up modern slavery laws. Last night, it emerged that ministers believe the Modern Slavery Act needs to be reformed as part of a package of new legislation to tackle the migrant crisis.

Robert Jenrick, the new immigration minister, said Albanians were “abusing” the Modern Slavery Act in order to frustrate attempts by the Government to deport them. He added that he would look at “radical options” to “ensure that economic migrants are returned swiftly and that we deter people from coming to the UK”.

In a speech to the Tory Party conference last month focusing on immigration, Suella Braverman also claimed “modern slavery laws are being abused by people gaming the system”. She claimed that “many” people are making spurious claims order to avoid being deported, including foreign nationals with a criminal record.

Expert push-back

Yesterday, the Oxford Migration Observatory stressed that 86 per cent of Albanians who received positive decisions on asylum applications in the year ending June 2022 were women, whose leave to remain was granted on the basis that they were likely to have been trafficked by criminals and in genuine need of protection.

Analysis by the charity CARE also shows that false or spurious claims by migrants are not a significant threat under existing legislation. The potential for spurious claims being successful under the official National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is low given the system's design.

Rebecca Stevenson, a trafficking policy expert at CARE explains:

“It is unlikely that there are many spurious claims as an individual cannot self-refer into the NRM. A referral is made by a first responder who needs to have evidence of potential trafficking. A person’s referral into the NRM may delay a person’s deportation but will not be stalled unless the person receives a reasonable grounds decision based on the Government’s own criteria.

“The 2021 NRM data for reasonable grounds decisions made on referrals shows around 90% of decisions made in 2021 led to positive reasonable grounds decisions. Once a person gets this decision, they are entitled to support and cannot be deported until they have a conclusive grounds decision. 90% of decisions made in 2021 led to positive conclusive grounds decisions.”

“In terms of the claims regarding foreign criminals masquerading as trafficking victims, this issue was brought up in March 2021 when the government said individuals in immigration detention were claiming to be victims to avoid deportation. The data published then showed just 2% of all NRM referrals were foreign national offenders in immigration detention, and 73% had a reasonable grounds decision.

Ms Stevenson adds:

“The narrative currently being spun by UK Ministers is concerning. This is a complex area and there is a real risk of collateral damage to safeguards in modern slavery laws amid wider attempts to curb economic migration. We would urge the government to tread with extreme caution. CARE and other organisations have stressed the need for more, not less, provision for modern slavery victims in the UK.”

ENDS

Christian Action Research and Education (CARE) provides analysis of social policy from a Christian perspective. For more information or to request an interview, contact jamie.gillies@care.org.uk