{"id":974755,"date":"2023-01-30T16:12:46","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T16:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecanary.co\/?p=1644848"},"modified":"2023-01-30T16:12:46","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T16:12:46","slug":"new-laws-coming-into-effect-today-will-target-victims-of-modern-slavery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/01\/30\/new-laws-coming-into-effect-today-will-target-victims-of-modern-slavery\/","title":{"rendered":"New laws coming into effect today will target victims of modern slavery"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-beyondwords-player=\"true\" contenteditable=\"false\"><\/div><p>New measures to accelerate the deportation of &#8216;foreign criminals&#8217;, enacted by the Tories through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecanary.co\/?s=nationality+and+borders+bill\"  rel=\"noopener\">Nationality and Borders Act<\/a>, begin on Monday 30 January. Included in Suella Braverman&#8217;s legislation are laws clamping down on some people who have claimed protection under UK law as victims of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecanary.co\/?s=modern+slavery\"  rel=\"noopener\">modern slavery<\/a> &#8211; including victims of trafficking:<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"X1qjSrUxPp5KOlE32HwNigbT6VvGJQsMdZWBtazmn\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (Commencement No. 4 and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023 <br \/>Provisions coming into force on 30.1.23<img src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/14.0.0\/72x72\/1f447.png\" alt=\"\ud83d\udc47\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0TVRzxeuIA\">https:\/\/t.co\/0TVRzxeuIA<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QVJQqzmZl2\">pic.twitter.com\/QVJQqzmZl2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adam Pipe (@adampipe) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/adampipe\/status\/1619982251919560704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 30, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span><\/p>\n<h2>&#8216;Criminalising victims&#8217; of modern slavery<\/h2>\n<p>The measures taking effect under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.uk\/ukpga\/2022\/36\/part\/5\/enacted\"  rel=\"noopener\">Section 5<\/a> of the Nationality and Borders Act mean that Home Office caseworkers can now demand evidence of modern slavery, rather than taking a victim&#8217;s word. That could include evidence from a charity worker or police officer who has helped rescue the victim.<\/p>\n<p>Rights groups have criticised the changes for undermining protections for genuine victims. Anti-Slavery International <a href=\"https:\/\/www.antislavery.org\/nationality-and-borders-bill-will-harm-victims-of-modern-slavery\/\"  rel=\"noopener\">described<\/a> the legislation as &#8220;dangerous and regressive&#8221; but singled out sections related to modern slavery as of &#8220;particular concern&#8221;:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Survivors of modern slavery could be denied access to the support that will enable them to access safety and recover and rebuild due to an unreasonable evidence burden.<\/p>\n<p>The Bill introduces cruel \u2018<strong>trauma deadlines<\/strong>\u2019 by putting a time limit on when survivors must disclose their experiences, after which they are assumed to be lying and their credibility is damaged.<\/p>\n<p>The Bill would therefore block access to support and criminalise victims and survivors who have criminal records, despite <strong>49% of potential trafficking victims last year being forced to commit crimes<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Anti-Slavery International criticised the act for conflating modern slavery with immigration issues, with enforcement priority given to the latter. As a result, the organisation said this will harm victims of modern slavery. Actors throughout the anti-modern slavery sector are &#8220;unified&#8221; in this belief, it said.<\/p>\n<h2>Offending doesn&#8217;t displace the right to safety<\/h2>\n<p>Home secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecanary.co\/topics\/suella-braverman\/\"  rel=\"noopener\">Braverman<\/a> said in a statement that it&#8217;s &#8220;totally unfair&#8221; that alleged abuses of the modern slavery system left &#8220;genuine victims&#8230; waiting longer to receive the protections they need&#8221;. As a result, Braverman said the legislation coming into force on 30 January will:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>mean if you&#8217;ve committed an offence, [the government has] the power to refuse your protections and kick you out of our country<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.uk\/ukpga\/2022\/36\/part\/5\/enacted\"  rel=\"noopener\">includes<\/a>\u00a0offences committed outside of the UK. The government cited a fringe case of one convicted rapist who appealed against a decision by the Home Office to expel him from the UK by claiming he was a victim of criminal gangs engaged in human trafficking.<\/p>\n<p>The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner called this part of the bill out when it was progressing through parliament. Dame Sara Thornton <a href=\"https:\/\/www.antislaverycommissioner.co.uk\/news-insights\/dame-sara-comments-on-clause-62-of-the-nationality-and-borders-bill-in-the-times\/\"  rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a> in February 2022 that:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We know that many victims of trafficking will have committed criminal offences &#8211; some will have done so under duress and others will have been specifically targeted owing to their offending history. Historic, minor offending does not amount to circumstances where a disqualification from the duty to protect and support victims may be justified.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Nonetheless, the bill passed through parliament without amendment.<\/p>\n<h2>Low figures for false claims<\/h2>\n<p>Britain&#8217;s National Crime Agency (NCA) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.barrons.com\/news\/uk-police-say-albanian-criminals-manipulating-anti-slavery-laws-01668536708\"  rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> in November that Albanian crime groups in particular were manipulating the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) which is being reformed under the new act. NCA&#8217;s report said crime groups coached Albanian migrants to claim they&#8217;re modern slavery victims and apply to the NRM if they get caught working in cannabis farms or other criminal enterprises.<\/p>\n<p>However, the number of false claims made through the NRM appears low. Unseen UK is a charity supporting trafficking and modern slavery victims. It <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unseenuk.org\/modern-slavery-and-immigration-the-facts\/\"  rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> in October that figures for 2021 and 2022 showed:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">the vast majority of people claiming to be victims of modern slavery are found to be genuine \u2013 91% in 2021 and currently 97% in 2022. And that is after the claimants have been investigated by the Home Office itself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">That means only 3% of claims [in 2022] were refused \u2013 and this doesn\u2019t necessarily mean they were abusing the system.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Moreover, as <em>openDemocracy<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opendemocracy.net\/en\/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery\/government-prepared-to-block-modern-slavery-survivors-to-prevent-bogus-claims\/\"  rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> in October 2022, the government has refused to release figures on the number of &#8216;serious&#8217; criminals &#8220;passing through the NRM&#8221;. With such low rates of false claims, and with mechanisms already in place to handle them, the new law is taking a sledgehammer to a drawing pin. It will inevitably &#8211; and cruelly &#8211; affect some of the most vulnerable people in this country.<\/p>\n<p><em>Featured image via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UpZAS0yqkJM\"  rel=\"noopener\">Guardian News\/YouTube<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse<\/em><\/p>\n<p>By <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thecanary.co\/author\/glen\/\">Glen Black<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecanary.co\/uk\/analysis\/2023\/01\/30\/new-laws-coming-into-effect-today-will-target-victims-of-modern-slavery\/\">Canary<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New measures to accelerate the deportation of \u2018foreign criminals\u2019, enacted by the Tories through the Nationality and Borders Act, begin on Monday 30 January. \u2026 <\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecanary.co\/uk\/analysis\/2023\/01\/30\/new-laws-coming-into-effect-today-will-target-victims-of-modern-slavery\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read more<\/a><\/div>\n<p>By <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thecanary.co\/author\/glen\/\">Glen Black<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9821,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441,7486,4834,15495,31373,44425,1395],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/974755"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9821"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=974755"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/974755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":985625,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/974755\/revisions\/985625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=974755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=974755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=974755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}