UK Government’s reforms to settlement are ‘deeply concerning’

Hope for Justice is deeply concerned about the impact that proposed changes to settlement in the UK will have on survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking. 

We believe the Government’s plans to radically alter the timelines and conditions for becoming a permanent resident in the UK will create further instability for people who have been exploited by making them wait even longer for settled status. In our experience, this creates huge risk of vulnerability to re-trafficking.

Under the plans, people will have to wait for 10 years (up from five years) before they can qualify to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). In some cases, they will have to wait for up to 30 years. These waiting times may be reduced if individuals can meet earnings or integration requirements, such as showing that they have contributed to society. Under these proposals, trafficking survivors may have to wait considerably longer for settlement due to factors connected to their exploitation, the complexity of their recovery, the impacts of trauma, and other factors beyond their control. 

Most survivors already experience multiple barriers to accessing support, which are often compounded by the mental, physical and emotional effects of exploitation. 

The UK Government’s proposed reforms to the immigration system lack clarity and are based on complex criteria, which risks creating uncertainty for survivors as to how long they will have to wait for settled status. 

Hope for Justice has consistently recommended that survivors with a positive Conclusive Grounds decision under the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) – the Government’s formal process for identifying potential victims of modern slavery and providing support – be automatically granted leave to remain for five years, with a pathway to settlement. We again call for this in response to the Home Office’s consultation on the proposed Earned Settlement framework. 

We recommend that the Government reconsiders its proposals and ensures that appropriate safeguards are put in place to support survivors of modern slavery in their long-term recovery and to reduce vulnerability to re-trafficking. 

Secure immigration status provides foreign national survivors with the stability that underpins their access to education, employment and successful integration into the community. Settlement also provides the foundation for recovery, along with access to long-term, trauma-informed support. 

Prolonged and uncertain routes to settlement can greatly undermine recovery. It may result in fear, anxiety and poor mental health, it can create insecurity, can lead to a lack of trust in authorities, and other impacts. The Government’s proposed changes risk leaving people to live in precarious and uncertain situations for extended periods, where they are at greater risk of exploitation or other harms. 

The Home Office is proposing a new baseline qualifying period for settlement, which would mean that people have to wait 10 years before they can apply for settled status.  

This period may be shortened based on ‘contribution to our national life’ or extended based on an assessment of various factors. In some cases, people will have to wait for up to 30 years before they can settle in the UK. 

Foreign national survivors of modern slavery may be unable to meet the conditions for ‘earned settlement’, through no fault of their own. Trauma, injury, lack of support network, unemployment, lack of trust in authorities, and poor English, are just a few of the barriers which survivors may face to meeting the Government’s proposed criteria for accessing settlement. In our experience, leaving survivors long periods of time with precarious and uncertain immigration status undermines their recovery and heightens the risk of them being re-trafficked. 

Under the proposed reforms, requirements that individuals will need to ‘demonstrate meaningful engagement with British society’ may present significant barriers to survivors of modern slavery being able to achieve settled status. 

Survivors can face many complexities in their recovery from exploitation, including trauma. This can affect their ability to trust, build relationships, attend language classes, work, and socialise. 

Many survivors are left with injuries as a result of modern slavery. Some sustain physical injuries caused by their traffickers, which prevent them from working or engaging meaningfully. Still others are affected mentally or experience trauma, having been controlled, manipulated, abused or coerced, which can limit or inhibit their ability to work or contribute to society. 

Victims of human trafficking may be unable to work, may not have the right to work in the UK, or may be unable to find an employer who will be sympathetic towards them if they are experiencing trauma because of their exploitation. 

There may also be practical difficulties, such as being able to afford and access language classes, particularly for those with learning difficulties or caring responsibilities. Furthermore, Home Office delays in decision-making can leave survivors unable to work or rent accommodation. 

Survivors risk being considered insufficiently integrated into society. This would mean they must wait longer for their settled status which could undermine their recovery, which in turn risks making it even harder for them to integrate. 

In our response to the consultation, ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, we also strongly oppose any penalties on survivors of modern slavery for claiming public funds. Under the proposals, people will be rewarded for making a ‘sustained and measurable economic contribution to the UK’, whilst those who rely on public funds will have to wait longer to be eligible for settled status.  

The principle of ‘Earned settlement’ unfairly penalises survivors of modern slavery who are often reliant on public funds via the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). This is the UK’s framework for providing support to potential and confirmed victims, including those who claim asylum. The Government’s proposals imply that anyone who has been receiving public funds is likely to find it even harder to access settlement. In fact, the framework suggests the length of time survivors are left waiting may well be extended because of this. Surely instead of supporting and providing for the ones who are most in need, these proposals are likely to instead hamper their recovery. 

Potential victims within the NRM are entitled to subsistence payments, which these proposals appear to punish them for. When survivors do not have the right to work in the UK, reliance on public funds is essential when they are granted status or move on from NRM support (e.g. when exiting a safe house). We have seen first-hand how access to long-term support is vital to prevent re-trafficking. 

An individual’s contributions might also be assessed, based on whether they have volunteered in their community. However, a volunteering requirement to shorten the length of time that an individual needs to wait to access settlement is inappropriate for trafficking survivors. 

This is because: 

Under the proposals, settlement can be earned based on ‘character and conduct which is pertaining to the public good’. 

The ’character requirements’ under the scheme indicate that those who do not comply with immigration requirements or who have a criminal conviction will have settlement applications refused. Hope for Justice has worked with scores of survivors who were forced to commit crimes by their traffickers. Perpetrators coerce their victims and control them through fear and physical abuse among other methods.  

Criminal exploitation is commonplace but, in a gross injustice, survivors of modern slavery continue to be prosecuted for offences which they were forced to carry out whilst being exploited. The proposal that ‘you should not be able to settle with a criminal record’ means that these survivors risk being barred from settlement. This would create instability, undermine recovery, and increase the risk of further harm. Similarly, people who are recruited by traffickers as they leave prisons also risk being barred from settlement, as do people who are wrongfully convicted by oppressive regimes around the world.  

Survivors who are working may fall above means testing thresholds so often cannot afford legal fees to have their convictions overturned and/or expunged. 

People in situations of exploitation are usually controlled by another person, which means they may be unaware of, or not be in control of, their immigration status. It is possible that they may breach requirements or overstay their visa due to their exploitation. The proposals unfairly punishing these individuals. 

The proposals indicate that if individuals enter the UK by irregular routes or overstay their visa, they will be handed a penalty of up to 20 additional years before they can settle. 

Survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking may be unaware of, or not in control of, their immigration status. For example, they may have been brought to the UK via ‘irregular routes’, sometimes using several modes of transport across long periods of time. Trauma, lack of trust in authorities, complex journeys involving multiple traffickers, and fear can also be factors that leave survivors unable to share their means or route of travel to the UK. 

Alternatively, they may have entered the UK on a visa scheme only to be subjected to exploitation by their traffickers and so be unable to comply with immigration requirements. 

Under these circumstances, survivors should not be penalised and required to wait additional years to be able to access the security of settled status. 

We advocate for a trauma-informed response to modern slavery which ensures that survivors are supported throughout their journey of recovery. For foreign national survivors, this includes ensuring they have the security of settled immigration status, which gives them access to vital systems and services. 

We therefore recommend that: 

Survivors with a positive Conclusive Grounds decision under the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) are automatically granted leave to remain for five years, with a pathway to settlement 

All adult survivors of modern slavery are given access to an Independent Modern Slavery Advocate (IMSA) to help them navigate the complex systems and services they have to face throughout their recovery, especially in securing immigration status