In the last year alone, many of us will have read or heard stories about migrant agricultural workers on the UK seasonal worker scheme who face exploitation as they pick the fruits and vegetables for our supermarket shelves.
Or how many of the goods being imported into the country, which we use every day, are made with the forced labour of people around the world.
Or even more recently, when survivors of trafficking were finally referred into the National Referral Mechanism following inaction from the MET police.
Behind all these headlines are real people who are experiencing modern slavery on the Government’s watch. And the problem will not go away on its own. If we do not act urgently, modern slavery will continue to grow in the UK and around the world.
Following King Charles III’s speech today setting out the UK Government’s priorities for the year, we are deeply disappointed that it has chosen to double down on harmful narratives, including un-evidenced claims of “abuse of the system,” which have created an environment of disbelief towards survivors.
The National Referral Mechanism consists of a two-stage decision-making process that places safeguards on alleged misuse and places an exceptionally high evidence burden on survivors. Restricting access to the system and weakening protections would only punish those the system is intended to support.
In recent years, the UK Government have focused on a policy of immigration enforcement, making support and identification mechanisms unequal and harder to access. The proposed changes to the asylum system fail to consider how insecure immigration status can increase the risk of exploitation.
It is time for the Government to re-prioritise modern slavery.
While we welcome indications the Bill may include some positive improvements for the identification and support of child trafficking victims, we are concerned that there remains no meaningful commitment to a comprehensive child exploitation strategy.
Furthermore, there is clear and growing evidence that the current framework set out in the Modern Slavery Act 2015 has failed to prevent modern slavery and exploitation in global supply chains. So, we await a commitment to stronger corporate accountability that businesses, investors, the Joint Committee on Human Rights, and consumers have all been calling for.
If we really want to build a fairer Britain, then the UK Government must remember its responsibility to protect and support survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking, regardless of where they are from and how they got here. It must re-prioritise modern slavery and tackle the root causes of exploitation and create an environment where survivors are able to come forward, be supported and protected.
The Government must also prioritise the introduction of a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act that creates a legal duty on businesses to identify, prevent and address human rights and environmental harms, backed by robust enforcement and access to remedy for victims. This must be accompanied by import controls to prevent goods made with forced labour from entering the UK market and to ensure the UK keeps pace with international developments.
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