Medaille Trust launches project to counter widespread exploitation of asylum seekers

Destitute, homeless asylum seekers camped in central London - November 2023. Image: ICN/JS

Ahead of World Day for Migrants and Refugees, Medaille Trust is sounding the alarm on the level of vulnerability to modern slavery in the UK faced by refugees and asylum seekers.

Data from service users at the Medaille Trust, one of the leading Catholic charities in the fight against modern slavery, suggests that more than 60% of newly referred survivors have a complex migration case including either an asylum case or difficulties accessing vital statutory support due to their visa status. These cases have increased significantly over the past five years.

Evidence from survivors indicates that traffickers and abusers are taking advantage of the situations that drive people to flee their home countries and also of the delays and weaknesses in support structures and services for asylum seekers and other vulnerable migrants in the UK.

Poverty, the impact of climate change, war and conflict, oppression and persecution are major push factors in driving people to flee. Faced with a lack of legal safe routes and available support means that for many asylum seekers relying on illegal operators can seem like the only choice. Many of these operators go on to abuse and exploit the vulnerable.

Those vulnerabilities can increase in the UK. The asylum system is slow, the hostile environment (on top of any trauma experienced by migrants in their home country) has created a fear of approaching authorities for help, and the ban on working means that exploiters and slavers have a rich recruitment field to exploit. Traffickers and slavers offer people the means to move, work and shelter, but only in exchange for crippling debts, abuse and exploitation.

Medaille Trust, with generous support from the Benefact Trust, are launching a new three-year pilot provide one-to-one casework support and drop-in services to 215 victims of modern slavery who are also navigating the asylum system. The project is designed as a first step in filling gaps providing clear advice, better survivor-focused work and more dedicated and expert assistance to a particularly vulnerable group. The project will also be looking to identify gaps in provision to make the case for future reforms.

LINK

Medaille Trust: www.medaille-trust.org.uk