Rwanda plan puts modern slavery victims at further risk of exploitation, campaigners warn

Unseen UK, an anti-slavery charity, received a record number of calls to its helpline in March- and there are fears the figures will rise under the government’s Rwanda plan

Rishi Sunak’s “hostile” immigration policies put asylum seekers at risk of being further exploited by criminal gangs in the underground economy, campaigners have warned as new figures show a spike in cases of modern slavery.

Unseen UK, an anti-slavery charity that provides a helpline for people to report suspected cases and support for victims, recorded 591 cases of modern slavery between January and March in 2023 - up from 556 in the same period in 2022.

And the latest data for March 2023 saw a monthly record number of calls to Unseen’s helpline, at 820.

The National Crime Agency says thousands of people across the UK are being held in “squalor” and “undertaking forced labour”. It says victims work in construction, agriculture and the illegal sex industry, as well as at places like nail bars, car washes, and cannabis farms.

Children are found working in all of these situations, as well as in sexual slavery.

People can be drawn into modern slavery in the UK from abroad with people traffickers taking them across the English Channel (PA)

Many victims are attracted through online job adverts and social media websites, and are trafficked frequently from eastern Europe, South East Asia, and Africa.

The government says the Rwanda plan will act as a deterrent to people smugglers and illegal migrants making the treacherous journey across the English Channel. But critics say it will deter victims from speaking out for fear of being deported from the UK.

Justine Carter, director of Unseen UK, warned the policies would lead to modern slavery cases increasing. She said: “These alarming figures show the true extent of modern slavery in the UK today.

Many victims work in construction, agriculture, and the illegal sex industry, as well as places like nail bars, car washes, and cannabis farms (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

“People often from Eastern Europe, Africa and other countries around the globe travel here with the promise of work and a better life. But in reality, many of them end up in debt, having their paperwork confiscated by criminal gangs and forced into miserable work in different service industries.”

The warning, issued on Human Trafficking Awareness day on 11 January, comes as government ministers brace themselves for another Commons showdown on its Rwanda plan next week.

Rightwing Tory MPs have put down a series of amendments to the bill in an effort to make it harder for people to appeal deportation - not an issue now, but potentially at a later stage if the bill remains unamended and the rebel MPs vote with Labour to oppose it.

Rishi Sunak is facing calls from right wing rebels in the party to make further amendments to the Rwanda Bill (AP)

Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director, said: “The Rwanda Bill is intended to ratchet up an already extremely hostile policy against nearly anyone seeking asylum in the UK.

“The government’s core policy of refusing to take responsibility for claims for asylum in the UK significantly increases the vulnerability of people shunned by the Home Office to exploitation by organised crime and other abusers – not just on journeys to the UK but in this country too.”

He added: “The more the government presses on, the more harm it will do, the greater the isolation and deprivation it will cause and the more trafficking and slavery gangs will thrive.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Modern slavery is a barbaric crime and we are committed to ensuring that the necessary support is available to victims of modern slavery to help them rebuild their lives.

“We are bringing perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice and are working with the police and operational partners to drive-up prosecutions.”