A male survivor of forced labour who was made to live in a basement and hospitalised because of his injuries has received a compensation award of over £73,000.
“We celebrate this award of compensation – which is the largest amount we have ever seen the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority give to a modern slavery survivor we had advocated for. But we also acknowledge that this money only goes so far in making amends and in compensating this survivor for the horrific and unjust treatment that he has had to live through.”
Laura Burns, Independent Modern Slavery Advocate® (IMSA), Hope for Justice
The impact of exploitation on this survivor has been huge, including physical injuries, severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Between 2002 and 2018, he was maltreated and used for forced labour against his will during multiple periods of exploitation. Maciej*, who is in his 50s, is still living with the trauma from his trafficking.
He has had to undergo counselling and is still unable to work. And the latest part of his recovery has been a five-year battle for compensation. The award was finally made based on Maciej being a victim of crimes of violence in the UK, which left him with disabling mental injuries, including complex PTSD. In addition, the award covers past and future loss of earnings, recognising the long-term health impact on Maciej which renders him unable to work.
We first met Maciej in 2018 when he was lying on a hospital bed, malnourished, and with severe physical injuries from his time in exploitation. He had been trafficked from his hometown in Poland on the false promise of a good job and accommodation in the UK. But when he arrived, he was forced to work on construction sites for long hours, six days per week, without pay.
Maciej eventually managed to escape but then faced homelessness. When he sought help from someone, he was offered work but was again deceived and re-exploited for forced labour. His earnings were again taken from him and he was forced to live in a basement. With nowhere else to turn, Maciej remained in this situation for eight years, until he contracted a serious infection and had to go to hospital.
He told us: “I became quite physically unwell as a result of the exploitation. I also now don’t trust people as I’m wary that they will exploit me again.”
One of Hope for Justice’s IMSAs® visited Maciej in hospital. Our team identified him as a potential survivor of human trafficking and helped him to enter the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), to be formally recognised as such. The NRM is the UK’s formal process for identifying potential victims of modern slavery and providing access to support. Maciej told us: “The advocacy was very good, beautiful. Hope for Justice did a very good job, they helped me tremendously.”
Maciej was provided with initial support through the NRM and was allocated safe house accommodation. However, accommodation provided in the NRM is only short-term and once a client receives their conclusive grounds decision, they have two weeks to exit the service. Unfortunately, Maciej was exited from the NRM service without any follow-on support. He therefore returned to the area of north England that he knew best, but from this vulnerable position of destitution and homelessness, he was exploited again.
His IMSA®, Laura, said: “Whilst in this situation, Maciej was thankfully able to reach out to Hope for Justice again for assistance.”
Between 2018 and 2023, Hope for Justice advocated for Maciej in a number of areas. Firstly, for him to be granted housing in a local authority, and also in relation to debts linked to his exploitation and vulnerability, the police investigation, immigration, a public law challenge, welfare benefits and mental health support.
Our most recent involvement has been to assist Maciej with advocacy around an application to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). We first made the application on his behalf in February 2020.
Maciej faced an initial refusal from CICA in early 2021 and our team asked for a review of the decision. We then referred the case to the Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU) for legal advice and to ask whether they would take the claim to an appeal. ATLEU lodged an appeal at the First-tier Tribunal in September 2022. A judge from the First-tier Tribunal reviewed the appeal application and decided that this case did not require a hearing, finding in Maciej’s favour. Next, the case was sent back to CICA to make an award, which was granted in December last year, although the survivor is still waiting for his award.
Freddy Russell from ATLEU said: “Like many of our clients, Maciej has had to fight for years before CICA finally agreed that he deserved a substantial amount of compensation for his exploitation. We hope now that Maciej can put his experiences behind him and begin to rebuild his life.”
Laura said: “Unfortunately processing times for CICA applications are very slow, and then there are huge delays at each stage of the process. The time-frames we see in this case are sadly quite common.”
We asked Maciej how he feels about the compensation award and what he will do when he receives it. He told us: “I think I will keep living as normal but maybe not need to worry as much. I am going to do some work to my flat and I will be able to send some money to my family.”
Laura added: “We are so pleased to finally see a CICA award in this case, after an almost five-year process. We recognise that no amount of money will be enough to bring justice when a survivor’s life has been so significantly affected. However, for the survivor, the payout has been a sense of recognition that what happened to him was wrong. The police were unable to prosecute in this case which made Maciej feel he was not believed. However, the CICA award has helped him feel that what happened to him was taken seriously, and that he was believed, which is crucial to his recovery.”
*Name and image changed to protect identity of the survivor
