Getty ImagesThe government says a backlog of thousands of modern slavery cases could be “cleared” within two years.
Latest figures show more than 23,000 suspected victims, including children, are still awaiting a Home Office decision on their status, including a woman in a Sussex safe house and a man who was paid £10 a day.
The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner said some people had spent up to four years in safe houses and welcomed the ambitious scheme but called for more prosecutions.
Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips MP announced on Friday that she would recruit 200 extra staff to “clear” the backlog, adding that the issue was one of her “top priorities”.
Modern slavery is the illegal exploitation of people for personal or commercial gain, with victims forced into low- or unpaid work, including sex work and criminal activity.
Last year, a quarter of referrals came from the UK, followed closely by Albanians and third by Vietnamese.
The minister did not confirm how much the recruitment costs would be but said the money was reallocated from existing budgets, including the former Conservative government’s abandoned Rwanda programme.
The new staff are expected to join the Home Office’s existing 650 staff handling cases “in early 2025”.
In an interview with the BBC, Safeguarding Minister Phillips pledged to reform modern slavery and increase the number of prosecutions.
“This government will use all available means to support them [victims] And we go after those who callously profit from their trauma and pain,” she said.
home officeIndependent Anti-Slavery Commissioner Eleanor Lyons said survivors had to wait too long to get the support they deserve and recognition that they were victims of modern slavery.
“Providing more caseworkers to speed up decision-making is a welcome step in the right direction,” she said.
“But more must be done to ensure victims of modern slavery are protected and perpetrators prosecuted,” she added.
“This is why the government needs to develop a strategy that makes tackling modern slavery a priority, and policy should be developed by listening to the voices and experiences of survivors,” she said.
Ms Lyons suspected there were around 120,000 people currently being exploited “in every community across the country”.
The number of suspected victims referred to police in England and Wales has increased by almost 70% in the past five years.
“Maria” came to the UK from Brazil and started working for relatives.
She was forced to sleep on a mattress on the kitchen floor with the three children she was forced to care for.
She said she cooks, cleans and takes care of the children 24 hours a day.
Prior to this, she had been asked to do different jobs in many different places.
“I started working 24 hours a day without getting paid,” she said.
“I’m still paying back the money they lent me, but I haven’t received anything else.
“When the situation completely affected my mental health and I couldn’t handle it anymore, I tried to talk to my family and ask for their help, but they told me I had to pay them.”
Her family kicked her out of their home and she lived on the streets before being taken to a safe house in Sussex by the Salvation Army.
“I work for £10 a day”
“Daniel” is from the Baltic countries and works 12 hours a day on a construction site, earning £10 a day.
He worked on sites across the UK and was forced to do so for more than five years.
“There was no contract and they didn’t pay what they promised,” he said.
“They used to abuse us psychologically but sometimes also physically.”
He said it was “humiliating” that they had to sleep in the attic.
The Salvation Army, which supports adult survivors of modern slavery, welcomed today’s announcement.
But it added that numbers were now at record highs Refusal of expert assistance.
The group claims recent changes to the law “conflate modern slavery with immigration”, leaving victims fearing they will be prosecuted and deported.
Major Kathy Betteridge, Director of Anti-Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery People in slavery could not believe that they would be treated as victims of crime and receive the support they needed.
You can call the UK Modern Slavery and Exploitation Hotline on 08000 121 700 or submit a report Internet here.
