Modern slavery survivors dying while waiting for compensation claims to be awarded, research finds

Government regularly denying trafficking victims payments they are entitled to, says charity

A report by the charity Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU) reveals that nearly half (47 per cent) of solicitors working with trafficking and slavery survivors who were surveyed had waited two to three years for clients to be awarded compensation (Anna Gowthorpe/PA)

Trafficking survivors in the UK have died before receiving compensation for the hardship they suffered due to the length of time it takes to successfully get through the government’s scheme for compensating victims of violent crime, new research has found.

A report by the charity Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU) reveals that nearly half (47 per cent) of solicitors working with trafficking and slavery survivors who were surveyed had waited between two and three years for clients to be awarded compensation.

One trafficking survivor, who was sold to a criminal gang and exploited for five years, died while his solicitors were still working to appeal a rejection for compensation, according to the findings.

In 2012, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), which exists to compensate victims of violent crime in England, Scotland and Wales, was amended to explicitly include survivors of trafficking.

However, ATLEU finds that the CICA had little understanding of the nature of the crimes of trafficking and modern slavery or how these crimes affect traumatised victims, and is regularly denying them the compensation they are entitled to.

It also notes a failure to ensure access to free advice and representation, which it said meant that survivors can find the process of applying for compensation “difficult, lengthy and traumatic”.

In one example in the report, a man named Esio who was sold for £200 to a criminal gang and exploited and forced to live in cramped, squalid conditions with 25 other trafficked men for five years before being dumped on the street.

He was initially refused compensation by CICA on the basis there was no evidence he had suffered a crime of violence, despite the fact the UK government had formally identified him as a victim of trafficking and he had said he feared the gang would harm him.  

Esio died four days before his appeal was due to be heard by the First–tier Tribunal, after waiting three years for a decision from CICA, according to the report.

The research, based on 30 cases conducted by ATLEU between April 2013 and November 2018 and a survey of 35 professionals, shows that 5 per cent of respondents reported CICA delays of four years or more, while 88 per cent had experience of survivors giving up due to the length of time taken to deal with their application.

Jamila Duncan-Bosu, solicitor at ATLEU, said: “Compensation is vital to helping survivors escape the poverty that places them at much greater risk of further harm and re-trafficking. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme as it currently operates is failing survivors by regularly denying them the compensation that they are entitled to.”

A government spokesperson said: “We provide trafficking victims with a wide range of specialist support, which can include accommodation, financial aid and access to healthcare and legal support.

“In 2012, we changed the law to ensure trafficked victims who have also suffered a violent crime could receive payments through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.”