The Home Secretary has succeeded in an appeal where she argued that those with deportation orders or proceedings were lawfully excluded from a concession allowing
The High Court has quashed a decision by the Home Office to refuse a trafficking claim on the grounds that the person had been kidnapped,
The High Court has ruled that three Home Office decisions, each of which refused the claimant’s request for reinstated trafficking support via the Modern Slavery
The domestic worker route is a common trafficking route and below we look at how to identify whether a domestic worker is a victim of
This is a lengthy briefing providing practical advice on how to prepare a case to ensure your client has the best chance of being granted
This article sets out the recent changes to the policy on granting people leave to remain once they have received a positive conclusive grounds decision,
The quarterly trafficking statistics for July to September 2024 have been published, with a few records set including for the number of referrals and number
The High Court has held that an unlawfully withdrawn asylum claim can amount to exceptional circumstances meaning that an extension of time should be granted
Spain has been ordered by the European Court of Human Rights to pay a Nigerian woman €15,000 in damages as compensation for failures relating to
Anyone whose life consists of daily references to the immigration rules will tell you that the experience can feel a lot like deep ocean exploration
The latest modern slavery statistics show that the record low grant rate noted in the previous update have continued in the period April to June
In response to the judicial review claim R (MS) v SSHD AC-2024-LON-000866, the Home Secretary has admitted a practice of intentionally delaying claims for temporary
The process for identifying and supporting survivors of trafficking has been seriously degraded over the past couple of years and in this article I look
In this podcast Sonia discusses Kalayaan’s new report “12 years of modern slavery” with Avril Sharp, immigration lawyer and policy officer. The report looks at
The High Court has said that it was not unlawful that a Kenyan refugee who had been trafficked to the UK as a domestic worker
The latest modern slavery statistics have been published and show that the ‘immigration enforcement competent authority’ had made its lowest percentage of positive conclusive grounds
The Home Office has published its latest “ad hoc” statistics release, showing a dramatic increase in the number of Vietnamese people coming to the UK
The High Court has dismissed a judicial review raised by an Albanian national challenging a negative reasonable grounds (first stage) decision in his trafficking claim,
The Upper Tribunal has confirmed that the Home Secretary’s “Discretionary Leave” guidance, version 10, published on 16 March 2023 is unlawful to the extent that
A new version of the modern slavery statutory guidance was published in January, adding some protections for people who are at risk of being disqualified
The Home Secretary has been unlawfully operating a secret policy preventing victims of trafficking from being granted the leave that they were entitled to while
The High Court has issued a damning interim relief decision with a laundry list of Home Office failures in a case challenging the detention of
A new report comes with a stark warning: “As the number of sponsored migrant workers rises every quarter, the issue of migrant labour exploitation is
As anticipated, the latest published trafficking statistics covering July to September 2023 show a substantial reversal in the number of refusals at reasonable grounds stage,
The Court of Appeal has reiterated the process that should be followed in article 3 medical treatment cases in relation to the shifting burden of
In this podcast, Jamila Duncan-Bosu of the Anti-Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit discusses how the seasonal agricultural workers scheme facilitates exploitation, the barriers to people
Here, we look at the practicalities involved in getting a good medico-legal report. We have previously explained what a medico-legal report is and that article
In BSG v R [2023] EWCA Crim 1041, the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of a young Somali citizen, who suffered ‘a clear injustice’
The latest trafficking statistics show a huge increase in both refusals and delays, suggesting the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 had had a disastrous impact
The Home Office has, following a judicial review challenge for two claimants of Duncan Lewis, published new modern slavery statutory guidance which no longer requires
Potential victims of trafficking awaiting asylum support decisions during the first lockdown were wrongly denied the full payments to which they were entitled. So held
The Upper Tribunal has confirmed that a recognised victim of trafficking who is also an asylum seeker, partly fearing re-trafficking on return as well as
The Home Office’s new policy temporary permission to stay for victims of trafficking and slavery was published on 30 January 2023. It accompanies the new
On 3 November 2022, the latest quarterly release of statistics on modern slavery claims was published, covering 1 July to 30 September this year. During
The Court of Appeal has granted an application made by a woman who was trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, to quash her conviction
The new Statement of Changes, published on 18 October 2022, has introduced yet another appendix to the Immigration Rules: Appendix Temporary Permission to Stay for
The Home Office has published a new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules (HC 719). The explanatory memorandum confirms that the changes are largely
In its ongoing drive to reduce Channel crossings, the government has set its sights on arrivals from a “safe and prosperous” Albania. A marked increase
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an Albanian woman’s judicial review challenge to a finding that she was not a human trafficking victim, holding that
Last week, celebrities and charities joined forces to celebrate the bravery of Sir Mo Farah. In a BBC documentary, aired on 13 July, the Olympic
The Home Secretary has succeeded in an appeal where she argued that those with deportation orders or proceedings were lawfully excluded from a concession allowing certain victims of trafficking to be considered for discretionary leave under the more favourable provisions in place before 30 January 2023. The case is Secretary...
The High Court has quashed a decision by the Home Office to refuse a trafficking claim on the grounds that the person had been kidnapped, which the decision maker said could not meet the trafficking definition. The case is R (AAM) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025]...
The High Court has ruled that three Home Office decisions, each of which refused the claimant’s request for reinstated trafficking support via the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract, were unlawful. Judgment was handed down in R (ETX) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 294 (Admin) on...
The domestic worker route is a common trafficking route and below we look at how to identify whether a domestic worker is a victim of modern slavery. Domestic workers who live overseas can apply for a visa to visit the UK for up to six months with their employer as...
This is a lengthy briefing providing practical advice on how to prepare a case to ensure your client has the best chance of being granted temporary permission to stay for victims of human trafficking or slavery (referred to as “VTS leave”). In this briefing I focus on grants based on...
This article sets out the recent changes to the policy on granting people leave to remain once they have received a positive conclusive grounds decision, which is the second and final stage of the trafficking identification process. As discussed previously, the position in relation to grants of leave made to...
The quarterly trafficking statistics for July to September 2024 have been published, with a few records set including for the number of referrals and number of conclusive grounds decisions. The impact of the latter on delays is still difficult to tell because of the reorganisation of cases within the decision...
The High Court has held that an unlawfully withdrawn asylum claim can amount to exceptional circumstances meaning that an extension of time should be granted for a reconsideration request of a trafficking decision. The case is R (KM) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 2870 (Admin)....
Spain has been ordered by the European Court of Human Rights to pay a Nigerian woman €15,000 in damages as compensation for failures relating to the investigation of allegations that she was trafficked to Spain for forced prostitution. The case is T.V. v. Spain (application no. 22512/21) and although the...
Anyone whose life consists of daily references to the immigration rules will tell you that the experience can feel a lot like deep ocean exploration in the Mariana Trench: despite constant research, you will still make new discoveries, even when you think there are no further depths to which you...
The latest modern slavery statistics show that the record low grant rate noted in the previous update have continued in the period April to June 2024, with positive decisions made by the immigration enforcement competent authority at around 20% for both stages of the trafficking identification process. Background: how does...
In response to the judicial review claim R (MS) v SSHD AC-2024-LON-000866, the Home Secretary has admitted a practice of intentionally delaying claims for temporary permission to stay made by asylum seeking trafficking victims who were at the time earmarked for possible removal to Rwanda. The pause, which was not...
The process for identifying and supporting survivors of trafficking has been seriously degraded over the past couple of years and in this article I look at the position in relation to grants of leave made to those people who have been identified as survivors of trafficking. Some recent decisions considering...
In this podcast Sonia discusses Kalayaan’s new report “12 years of modern slavery” with Avril Sharp, immigration lawyer and policy officer. The report looks at the history of the overseas domestic worker visa, and the harmful changes that have made. They also discuss the impact of the Nationality and Borders...
The latest modern slavery statistics have been published and show that the ‘immigration enforcement competent authority’ had made its lowest percentage of positive conclusive grounds decisions confirming that a person is recognised as a victim of trafficking since it was set up, with a recognition rate of 20.68% for the...
The Home Office has published its latest “ad hoc” statistics release, showing a dramatic increase in the number of Vietnamese people coming to the UK and a 24% increase in people detected crossing the Channel so far in 2024. The statistics were published to support the Prime Minister’s speech in...
The High Court has dismissed a judicial review raised by an Albanian national challenging a negative reasonable grounds (first stage) decision in his trafficking claim, finding that his employer did not have the intention to exploit him at the point of recruitment. The case is R (MT) v Secretary of...
The Upper Tribunal has confirmed that the Home Secretary’s “Discretionary Leave” guidance, version 10, published on 16 March 2023 is unlawful to the extent that it excludes victims of trafficking who had been accepted by the Home Office to be a victim before 30 January 2023 and had, before that...
A new version of the modern slavery statutory guidance was published in January, adding some protections for people who are at risk of being disqualified from trafficking support due to a public order offence. These changes were made following the Home Secretary’s concession of a judicial review challenge to guidance...
The Home Secretary has been unlawfully operating a secret policy preventing victims of trafficking from being granted the leave that they were entitled to while their asylum claim was pending. The case is XY v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 81 (Admin). This article is a...
The High Court has issued a damning interim relief decision with a laundry list of Home Office failures in a case challenging the detention of a potential victim of trafficking with mental health issues and several criminal convictions. The case is R (ER) v Secretary of State for the Home...
A new report comes with a stark warning: “As the number of sponsored migrant workers rises every quarter, the issue of migrant labour exploitation is only likely to increase”. Work Rights Centre, a charity that works to support migrants and disadvantaged British residents access employment justice, has today published their...
As anticipated, the latest published trafficking statistics covering July to September 2023 show a substantial reversal in the number of refusals at reasonable grounds stage, although these are still far higher than before the Nationality and Borders Act 2022. How does the modern slavery protection process work? Firstly, a potential...
The Court of Appeal has reiterated the process that should be followed in article 3 medical treatment cases in relation to the shifting burden of proof, as set out in AM (Zimbabwe) v SSHD [2020] UKSC 17 and in the headnote to the Upper Tribunal’s consideration of the case. This case...
In this podcast, Jamila Duncan-Bosu of the Anti-Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit discusses how the seasonal agricultural workers scheme facilitates exploitation, the barriers to people raising complaints about their treatment, and what the government can and should be doing about it. Last week, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the...
Here, we look at the practicalities involved in getting a good medico-legal report. We have previously explained what a medico-legal report is and that article should be read alongside this one. These reports can be a game changer in cases involving vulnerable clients, but in the current climate it is...
In BSG v R [2023] EWCA Crim 1041, the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of a young Somali citizen, who suffered ‘a clear injustice’ after being ‘groomed, exploited and threatened’ [para 57] by a human trafficking gang in the UK. Background The applicant, “BSG”, had been convicted of possession...
The latest trafficking statistics show a huge increase in both refusals and delays, suggesting the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 had had a disastrous impact on the protection of survivors of modern slavery. Most of the trafficking provisions of the legislation came into effect on 30 January 2023. Changes were...
The Home Office has, following a judicial review challenge for two claimants of Duncan Lewis, published new modern slavery statutory guidance which no longer requires a potential victim of trafficking and modern slavery to produce ‘objective’ evidence corroborating a credible account of their experiences in order to receive a positive...
Potential victims of trafficking awaiting asylum support decisions during the first lockdown were wrongly denied the full payments to which they were entitled. So held the High Court in R (on the application of PM) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 1551. The Claimant, PM, is...
The Upper Tribunal has confirmed that a recognised victim of trafficking who is also an asylum seeker, partly fearing re-trafficking on return as well as political persecution, should have been granted permission to stay (leave to remain) whilst their asylum claim was pending, in line with findings in R (KTT)...
The Home Office’s new policy temporary permission to stay for victims of trafficking and slavery was published on 30 January 2023. It accompanies the new appendix to the Immigration Rules of the same name, which was published on 18 October 2022 and came into force on 30 January this year....
On 3 November 2022, the latest quarterly release of statistics on modern slavery claims was published, covering 1 July to 30 September this year. During this period, 4,586 people were referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) or via the Duty to Notify as potential victims of modern slavery. This...
The Court of Appeal has granted an application made by a woman who was trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, to quash her conviction from November 2009. She was convicted for using a false identity document when attempting to travel to the Netherlands after she had fled her traffickers....
The new Statement of Changes, published on 18 October 2022, has introduced yet another appendix to the Immigration Rules: Appendix Temporary Permission to Stay for Victims of Human Trafficking or Slavery. The new appendix will be added on 30 January 2023. The provisions largely mirror those set out in primary...
The Home Office has published a new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules (HC 719). The explanatory memorandum confirms that the changes are largely focused on the government’s continued efforts to simplify the rules, and on implementing policy changes that have recently been put in place. The majority of...
In its ongoing drive to reduce Channel crossings, the government has set its sights on arrivals from a “safe and prosperous” Albania. A marked increase in Albanian arrivals via the Channel have been reported over the past year, prompting the former Home Secretary to seek further agreement with the Albanian...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an Albanian woman’s judicial review challenge to a finding that she was not a human trafficking victim, holding that those deciding her case had handled it with the correct level of “anxious scrutiny”. The case is R (LM (Albania)) v Secretary of State for...
Last week, celebrities and charities joined forces to celebrate the bravery of Sir Mo Farah. In a BBC documentary, aired on 13 July, the Olympic gold medallist revealed that he was trafficked to the UK and forced into domestic servitude aged nine years old. Farah explained that the decision to...
