ATMG Conflation Briefing: The Impact of conflating immigration enforcement with modern slavery, February 2026

Over the past few years, there has been a renewed conflation between modern slavery and immigration enforcement, which is undermining government efforts to tackle modern slavery and leading to the de-prioritisation of measures aimed at addressing it.

This approach has driven legislative and policy changes resulting in unequal access to identification and support for survivors, gradually eroding the protection system that took years of government work to develop and improve. The departure from a human rights-based and victim-centred approach in favour of implementing immigration enforcement policies is harmful to survivors, communities and our society as a whole.

This briefing aims to examine the consequences of this approach, its past and current impact, as well as the potential implications for the future.