New Immigration Asylum Bill 2026 - a gift to traffickers?

Leading UK charity Unseen assesses the continuing negative impact on victims of modern slavery of latest immigration-focused legislation.

"Modern slavery is an economic crime with devastating human rights violations that has been illegitimately recast as an immigration issue. Unfortunately, the new Immigration & Asylum Bill 2026 doubles down on harmful modern slavery policies that have been enacted by previous governments. Since 2022, victims and survivors of modern slavery have faced increasingly restrictive UK government policies, driven in part by repeated claims that the modern slavery support system is being misused by people seeking to gain access to the UK. Successive governments have not been able to substantiate these claims."

"Not only is this claim unevidenced, it lacks logical reasoning. Recognition as a survivor of modern slavery does not entitle someone leave to remain in the UK. There is no route to settlement as a survivor of modern slavery, only temporary support to begin to rebuild your life. What the law will do instead is prevent people subjected to forced labour, servitude, slavery, and sex trafficking from accessing potentially lifesaving protection. Aside from the devastating impact on survivors, preventing them from accessing support is a gift to traffickers who can continue to move and exploit people with no fear of prosecution."

"The damaging provisions have been set out in a piece of immigration legislation, but many of these policies will affect all victims – including those such as the British survivors of Al Fayad, whom Unseen continues to support. If enacted, this law will prevent survivors of modern slavery being identified and block them from support – but modern slavery will not go away. Victims and survivors of modern slavery will not cease to exist. Instead, the UK risks entrenching cycles of trafficking in its labour markets, where exploitation is quickly becoming the norm."

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