Updated on 23 April 2024: the Safety of Rwanda Bill has completed its passage through Parliament and is set to become law.
We remain deeply concerned by the second reading of the Rwanda Bill through Parliament on 12 December 2023.
This proposed Bill seeks to revive the Rwanda deal which threatens many vulnerable people on the move, including survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking.
As part of this plan, those who arrive to the UK by small boats, including victims of modern slavery, will be deported to Rwanda where they can claim asylum and support.
The threefold concerns surrounding the Rwanda Bill are as follows:
- Breach of human rights laws: This Rwanda Bill is unlawful and already in breach of numerous human rights laws and international conventions as ruled by the UK Supreme Court in November 2023. This legislative move creates a dangerous precedent that groups, notably vulnerable people arriving by small boats, can be stripped of their rights.
- Lack of specialised support in Rwanda: Victims are unlikely to receive the level of specialist support in Rwanda that they could access and are entitled to in the UK. Moving victims to an unfamiliar environment may exacerbate trauma in exploited individuals, compounding the challenges they face.
- Risk of re-trafficking: Unseen echoes the court ruling, which recognised a real risk of refoulement – people being sent back to their home countries where there is a high likelihood of them being subject to further harm or persecution. For victims of modern slavery or human trafficking, they face risks of further exploitation and re-trafficking.
Government claim of "massive abuse" to modern slavery debunked
The Government claims “massive abuse” of the modern slavery system by individuals arriving in the UK through “irregular” means, such as small boats crossing the Channel.
Contrary to these assertions, the Government’s own figures reveal that only 6% of people arriving by small boats in 2022 claimed they were victims of modern slavery.
Of the 83,236 people that arrived in the UK on small boats between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2022, 7% (6,210 people) claimed they were victims of modern slavery (and were referred to the National Referral Mechanism – the Government’s system for identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery – as a potential victim of modern slavery).
Of this 7%, the overwhelming majority (85%) received a reasonable grounds decision from the Home Office. Of the 505 conclusive grounds decisions made by the Home Office since 2018 to people arriving in the UK on small boats, 85% were positive.
This means that the Home Office believes that a person is a victim of modern slavery.
To date, the Government has put forward no evidence that people are “gaming the system”.
UK no longer sees tackling modern slavery as a priority
The Government’s position on the Rwanda Bill comes in the wake of further cuts to specialist support for victims of modern slavery and trafficking. For example, in December 2023, the Government rolled back on the promised 2017 Places of Safety scheme, a vital support model providing advice, shelter, and medical intervention post-exploitation.
This, compounded by the consistent re-conflation of modern slavery with anti-immigration measures, lays bare a stark reality which we have feared for some time: tackling modern slavery is no longer a priority for the UK.
Our commitment
At Unseen, we will continue to champion and fight for the rights of modern slavery victims and survivors to ensure they get the help they need and deserve – rights that they are entitled to under international human rights laws, including rights to fair treatment and the support to recover from the exploitation they have been through, to which the UK is a signatory.
