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Media Coverage

 

50 women talk about life as a domestic w…

Denounced as giving a ‘veneer of legality to slaveholding’ and despite claims of reform, ka…

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Do we really need a Global Commission on…

Theresa May’s attempt at a legacy project won’t save anybody from ‘modern slavery’. But…

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I was abused, bullied and left in limbo…

Friday 5 April marks 12 years since Theresa May’s government revoked the Overseas Domesti…

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‘If you want to abuse your workers, th…

In a letter last week to Michael Tomlinson MP, the Home Office minister for countering illegal…

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Theresa May leaves legacy of cruelty for…

May’s heartless policies will go on tormenting migrant domestic workers long after she steps…

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The NRM: No substitute for workers’ ri…

NRM referrals are on the rise, but the usefulness of an NRM referral to people who have been ex…

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“Near Breaking Point”: urgent change…

Kalayaan, a small but mighty charity that works to provide advice, advocacy and support service…

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Theresa May to confront Home Office over…

Department has admitted that it hid the policy due to concerns about former PM’s reaction

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Police open investigation into allegatio…

Police in London have opened an investigation into allegations of trafficking and slavery follo…

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‘They treated me like an animal’: ho…

Migrants from the Philippines make up a huge percentage of domestic workers around the world. B…

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I ran away from slavery; now I help othe…

Analiza made the painful decision to leave her family behind in the Philippines in order to fin…

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The domestic slaves rescued from London'…

In the last five years, hundreds of women have been saved from domestic slavery and violent abu…

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Thousands of modern slavery cases reject…

The Home Office has dramatically increased the number of rejections since January after toughe…

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Hundreds of modern slavery cases on hold…

The admission means the Home Office must stop refusing new claims until it draws up new instr…

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Potential modern slavery victims sent pa…

Experts blame Suella Braverman’s borders act as stats show record number of potential vic…

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Anti-slavery helpline has busiest year e…

The difficulty faced by survivors trying to access the government’s slavery referral scheme …

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Reports of forced labour, sex traffickin…

“Kalayaan has been contacted by many survivors reporting difficulties in trying to access a r…

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Modern slavery in the UK: government pro…

Foreign domestic workers in the UK who experience abuse may qualify for modern slavery protecti…

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‘Tied’ visas are putting migrant dom…

Not all migrant worker visas are equal. This is how some domestic workers are finding themselve…

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Europe's human rights watchdog warns UK…

Council of Europe’s experts say bill is ‘step backwards’ in fight against mod…

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NGOs, MPs and academics call for withdra…

More than 60 signatories write to PM before Tuesday’s debate, warning bill will ‘co…

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'They treat you like an animal': How Bri…

Migrants on the UK’s rapidly expanding farmworker visa scheme face systematic bullying, a…

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Modern slavery victim ‘worked 105 hour…

Modern slavery victims says the referral system is failing to protect them from being forced ba…

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Nearly 10,000 modern slavery victims wai…

The number of people waiting over two years for a decision has tripled since 2021

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The Unheard Voices of Migrant Domestic…

In our Unheard Voices project, we heard from six participants of the Future Voices spokesperso…

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Calls to close loophole that puts UK dom…

Government yet to overhaul family worker exemption, which permits live-in staff to be paid less…

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Illegal migration bill is ‘cruelty wit…

Stephen Cottrell’s condemnation came as a coalition of more than 350 charities, businesses, u…

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UK’s modern slavery programme at ‘br…

Slavery survivors failed because the government programme designed to help them at “breaking…

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LGBTQ+ History Month

For #LGBTQ+HistoryMonth, Zarith and Issam talk about the impact of the asylum system on peoples…

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Modern slavery survivors could be retra…

The Salvation Army says it has taken an “unprecedented emergency measure” to suspend acce…

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Foreign diplomats trap and abuse domesti…

Exclusive: Diplomats representing several Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian nations subjected…

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Introducing the Big Issue Changemakers o…

Our changemakers come from all walks of life, from those quietly helping others to the ones lou…

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Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Sau…

Haraj marketplace remains on Apple and Google stores despite UN slavery warning

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Do not reduce UK's modern slavery protec…

Theresa May has warned government efforts to tighten modern slavery laws must not mistakenly ma…

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Stop ‘vilifying’ asylum seekers and…

Tory peer wants to replicate Homes for Ukraine scheme, where families paid to put up refugees,…

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Modern slavery blitz on London embassies…

Foreign embassies in London are to be hit with a crackdown on “modern-day slavery” and oth…

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UK rolling back efforts to tackle modern…

The UK has been accused of “rolling back” moves to tackle modern slavery before a UN review…

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One woman's story of modern slavery in t…

I worked from 6am to midnight and wasn’t allowed to leave. It was like a prison.

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Our Place Is Here

From gal-dem, this is Our Place Is Here – a collection of personal essays written and spoken…

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Diplomats who exploit domestic staff can…

Judge rules in case of Saudi diplomat who allegedly forced Filipino worker to wear a bell 24 ho…

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Diplomat in UK to face court action for…

Supreme Court rules diplomats who profit by exploiting their workers in conditions of modern sl…

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Two years on £38 a week: life inside th…

Domestic workers inside the National Referral System at risk of new exploitation as they strugg…

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Migrant domestic workers aren’t giving…

It’s been ten years since the U.K. government implemented a harmful policy tying migrant dome…

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10 years, no rights: why the Government…

Migrant domestic workers have been denied fundamental rights in the UK for a decade. Change in…

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Courts condemn Home Office and CPS in tw…

Victims of trafficking have secured two significant victories in the courts in separate rulings…

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Revealed: just 7% of trafficking victims…

Government accused of failing those at risk of falling back into traffickers’ hands in home c…

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Let asylum seekers work in UK, migratio…

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) said the government should release evidence backing mini…

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Asylum seekers will still not be allowed…

Long-awaited assessment concludes asylum work ban must be maintained to ‘reduce pull factors…

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How the UK’s new borders bill could hi…

The Borders Bill “represents a continuing trend from the British government of conflating…

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Home Office ‘covering up’ its own st…

Officials are refusing to release its evidence on whether so-called “pull factors” play a p…

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Wasted talent: skilled asylum seekers se…

The personal cost of a lengthy period without work is clear talking to Sofia, a trained nurse a…

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‘Carers enable us to live, not just e…

Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, says there are 167,000 vacancies in so…

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‘Common-sense’: Cross-party MPs call…

MPs from all main parties say work ban is ‘nonsensical’ and must be ‘urgently lifted’

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Celebrities sign letter urging Johnson t…

Olivia Colman is among more than 40 public figures who have signed the letter to Boris Johnson.…

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'I didn't sleep all night after employer…

Campaigners say the Borders Bill will adversely affect cases like Justina’s in a number of wa…

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Trafficking victims should be granted le…

Landmark judgment will apply to thousands who may otherwise have been sent back to home countri…

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Revealed: The new visa scheme for lorry…

Sadly, the government’s new short-term visa plan is unlikely to address concerns.

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Emergency visa scheme extended in major…

Threat of Christmas being ruined by driver shortages forces ministers to expand range and dur…

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Ministers ‘must relax immigration rule…

Sir Roger Gale: “If we are serious about dealing with this crisis we will be offering visas f…

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Home Office resisting calls to let asylu…

Priti Patel is facing growing pleas to let 70,000 claimants seek employment pending a resolutio…

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Senior Tories back calls for asylum seek…

Prominent Conservatives suggest Home Office should lift ban on work for asylum seekers to allo…

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Scores of GP surgeries that wrongly refu…

Health campaigners have raised concerns about the “lack of proper scrutiny” of GP practices…

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Excluded: How women suffer from digital…

For Asmin, a survivor of modern-day slavery, her phone is her lifeline to legal aid, and to her…

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Most GP surgeries refuse to register und…

During the pandemic, those who live in the UK, but have an uncertain immigration status, have f…

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‘I want them to feel human again’: t…

The FDWA gave Guevarra a place to stay and accompanied her to the police. Since then, she has b…

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HSBC rolls out service to help victims o…

HSBC UK is working closely with a number of charities, including Kalayaan, using a tailored app…

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Workers live like 'slaves' in caravans a…

With no Freedom of Movement, none of these workers could change jobs. The Seasonal Workers Pilo…

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The domestic workers trapped in homes wi…

On the first day of her new job as a live-in domestic worker, Gemma was told to remove her fac…

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Human rights amnesty is needed as migran…

There is a solution to this problem, one that has been tried and tested and is cited nationally…

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Behind closed doors: Filipina workers tr…

Corinne Redfern discusses the impact the pandemic has had on the Filipino women trapped oversea…

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'I want to go home': Filipina domestic w…

“They’ve got no support whatsoever,” says Dr Parry-Davies, adding that the Filipina women…

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Lockdown pushes the hidden workforce fur…

It may be called lockdown, but for them it is actually imprisonment.

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Ministers refuse calls from senior Torie…

Ministers have refused calls from senior Tories to provide immigration protection for traffick…

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Home Office minister rejects plans for e…

Backbench bill would grant minimum 12 months’ protection from immigration detention

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Home Office unlawfully failing to protec…

High Court rules ‘unlawful lacuna’ leaves slavery survivors without immigration status or a…

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Ministers urged to change policy that fa…

Kalayaan along with the Voice of Domestic Workers, are calling on ministers to urgently reinsta…

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Britain must increase pitiful support fo…

Preventing people from working not only denies them the opportunity to support themselves but a…

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The domestic workers fleeing modern slav…

During lockdown overseas domestic workers became even more vulnerable to abuse, but one woman i…

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Domestic workers face cycle of exploitat…

‘They treated me like I was in a jail. They didn’t give me proper food and I didn&#…

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Judges quash decision not to prosecute…

CPS to ‘look again’ at case involving woman working for UAE family in London

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'Like I'm in a cage': Domestic workers t…

Already excluded from many labour protections and subjected to overwork, delayed or withheld wa…

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'I don't know where to go': Domestic wor…

Workers have had employment abruptly terminated during the crisis, leaving them with nowhere to…

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Pandemic exacerbates situation for domes…

Government must suspend visa conditions preventing access to support for migrant domestic worke…

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Behind closed doors: modern slavery in K…

There are legal structures that make workers vulnerable to exploitation. So why not change thos…

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Victims of slavery are trapped in destit…

A number of hostile immigration policies are directly at odds with the UK’s commitment to pro…

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Migrant domestic workers in Britain need…

We call on the government to listen to the voices of the victims of modern slavery and review t…

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Dignity Not Destitution: victims of slav…

The UK has a restrictive policy on allowing migrants to work. For migrant domestic workers who…

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Ministers set to drop plan to safeguard…

No contractor found to run meetings that would have explained employees’ rights

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Diplomatic immunity cannot shield slave-…

A Saudi diplomat cannot claim immunity from legal action brought by a woman who said he traffic…

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Modern slavery victims will be able to o…

Victims of modern slavery will be able to open bank accounts without traditional identification…

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Dignity, not destitution: the impact of…

This blog post presents some key findings and initial analysis of an empirical study on the imp…

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Home Office cuts to modern slavery victi…

Government ordered to make back-payments which could exceed £1m after judge rules decision to…

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Modern slavery victims 'drawn back into…

Asylum-seeking victims of trafficking ‘cannot afford food and are returning to illegal and…

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Brexit plan to bring in more non-EU work…

Foreign workers could be at risk of modern slavery in UK as reliance on employer for visas me…

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Support the bill to help victims of mod…

A plea to the prime minister to back the bill to improve care for victims of exploitation

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‘I feel I am dying’: UK tied visa re…

Advocates told WikiTribune that even after the British government commissioned and published…

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Slavery or deportation: limbo land for U…

Britain last year made reforms, allowing domestic workers to change employers within six months…

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I’m free... and now I am treated as a…

Brought into the country by a Saudi family she believed would look after her, she was forced to…

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'Absolutely unacceptable': UK accused of…

Campaigners have warned that thousands of foreign domestic workers remain enslaved behind the c…

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Saudi diplomat will be sued by 'slave la…

The Supreme Court today delivered a landmark victory to the campaign against domestic slavery,…

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UK Supreme Court allows domestic workers…

‘Regardless of immigration status and no matter who employs them, vulnerable workers shou…

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UK court win for Saudi diplomat's maid o…

A landmark ruling by Britain’s highest court in favor of a Filipino domestic worker who alleg…

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Supreme Court rules former Saudi diploma…

The charity Kalayaan, which campaigns on the rights of migrant domestic workers and intervened…

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Anne’s bus ride to freedom after two y…

She worked 24-hour shifts for a Saudi family who  refused to pay her and confiscated her passp…

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May's message to Londoners: Look out for…

Critics say the Government was too soft in one area, when it refused to abolish “tied visas…

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Thousands of staff brought to the UK by…

Government policy has exposed thousands of domestic workers to slavery, abuse and trafficking,…

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Abuse of foreign maids linked to domesti…

Britain’s domestic worker visa scheme contributes to a system of modern day slavery by tying…

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UK visa policy ‘increasing abuse’ of…

Tied visas that restrict domestic workers to one employer and limit their stay in the UK have l…

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Couple jailed after keeping man as a sla…

Ofonime Sunday Inuk, now 40, was brought from Nigeria to Britain in 1989 by couple who forced h…

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Has the Modern Slavery Act left the UK's…

At first glance, the United Kingdom appears to be at the forefront of the international fight a…

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Sex Discrimination and UK Immigration La…

Direct discrimination on the grounds of sex has been a feature of immigration law in the past a…

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Britain's tied visa rules fuel abuse of…

LONDON, May 28 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – When Susi, a single mother from the Philipp…

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Britain fights slavery with tough new la…

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Human traffickers may face life imprisonment under…

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Modern slavery bill: migrant domestic wo…

UK immigration rules currently prevent migrant domestic workers from changing employers. This r…

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Modern slavery bill amendment rejected b…

MPs have rejected an amendment made by the Lords to the modern slavery bill, which would allow…

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UK tied visa system 'turning domestic wo…

The UK government has “recreated kafala” with its introduction of tied visas for foreign do…

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If the UK government doesn't protect exp…

Is parliament dragging its heels on modern-day slavery because women’s domestic “wo…

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Modern Slavery Bill fails vulnerable wom…

In 2012 the UK government made it illegal for migrant domestic workers to change employers. Par…

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Legal moves to protect migrant domestic…

The much anticipated Modern Slavery Bill is entering its final phases, with Report Stage in the…

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Britain's Legal Slaves. Radio 4 Face the…

As parliament passes a new law to abolish slavery, John Waite tracks down victims whose lives a…

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Super-rich boss vs abused maid: whose si…

The UK government makes it easy for the super-rich to harm their domestic employees. One small…

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What Traffickers Know that the Court of…

The Court of Appeal considered two cases involving domestic work and immunity, a consideration…

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Untouchable diplomats use domestic serva…

Foreign diplomats living in Britain have been accused of imprisoning domestic servants and forc…

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Radio 4 Today Programme discussion on Mi…

Kate Roberts of Kalayaan, Fiona Cunningham, of the Centre for Social Justice and former Special…

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Why the UK's 'Modern Slavery' Problem Is…

Sheila is a softly spoken woman with long, dark hair. She hasn’t seen her children for se…

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How I was forced to work as a slave in L…

A Sri Lankan woman who was brought to the UK by her employers has told ITV News of her ordeal a…

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Home Office: 13,000 could be working as…

New analysis from the Home Office on the scale of human trafficking in the UK suggests as many…

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Politicians, campaigners and lawyers uni…

Yesterday evening lawyers, politicians and campaigners gathered in the House of Lords, united b…

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The government overlooks foreign domesti…

Despite Theresa May’s rhetoric, the Conservatives torpedoed an amendment to the Modern Sl…

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Government visa rules 'license domestic…

The government is “licensing modern slavery” with its visa rules for domestic worke…

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UK worker abuse red-flagged

New report highlights plight of domestic helpers in the United Kingdom, with critics comparing…

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How the Home Office traps domestic worke…

This government’s attitude to the plight of domestic workers in the UK is cynical, backwa…

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Chris Grayling launches court battle ove…

The Justice Secretary says only the Conservatives will repatriate powers from Brussels as he pr…

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Diplomats who commit crimes shouldn’t…

The diplomatic standoff over the recent arrest of an Indian consular official accused of visa…

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Equality investigation will expose the p…

More than 400,000 people – mainly women – are vulnerable to exploitation and forced…

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Modern slavery bill set to streamline hu…

Theresa May believes new bill will help reduce reoffending among those convicted of complex off…

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Tighter visa rules 'increase risk of sla…

Changes to the visa regime for migrant domestic workers last year increased the risk of people…

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Never mind human rights law, EU law is m…

A recent decision by the employment appeal tribunal shows that EU law will trump laws passed by…

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Britian turns back the clock on domestic…

The government’s decision to end the overseas domestic worker visa has given bad employers op…

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A huge percentage of the population with…

The government’s plan to slash £220m from the UK’s legal aid budget has rightly been conde…

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Migrant domestic worker labour rights un…

For the second time in as many months, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has dismissed a di…

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Man jailed for abuse of 'enslaved' woman…

A man has been jailed for 11 years for raping an Indian woman who was treated like a “sla…

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Legally Trapped: UK legislation Concerni…

Prior to April 2012 the UK was considered a (comparatively) progressive and well regarded count…

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The Noise on immigration is drowning out…

Desperate to sound tough, politicians are in fact making it harder to improve the plight of dom…

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Three guilty of abuse of 'enslaved' woma…

Three people have been found guilty of abusing an Indian woman who was treated like a servant a…

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Raped, beaten, and enslaved for years …

A modern-day slave passed between three middle-class families during years of horrific abuse is…

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More women are forced into slavery after…

The number of women suspected of being trafficked to perform housework in embassies and private…

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British Stories of Nigerian Cinderellas…

Ely was born in Nsukka, a small town in Nigeria. “When I was about six years old, after my f…

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ILO urges better pay and conditions for…

International Labour Organisation calls for global standards to ensure better employment deal f…

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Workers abused by immune diplomats

Despite a global crackdown on human traffickers and a pledge by Secretary of State Hillary Rod…

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Where there is no sunlight: one worker's…

A domestic worker from Morocco, Najilaou is now working in London and tells the story of her st…

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Woman allegedly trafficked from India: S…

Six people, including a butcher and an optician, have been charged in connection with trafficki…

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Britain is turning its back on slavery a…

The British struggle to abolish slavery has been described as one of the most ambitious and bri…

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UK new visa rules disadvantage workers

The Unite Union has urged the UK government to drop reforms of overseas domestic worker visas,…

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Looking in the wrong direction? Changes…

Though the announcement to close the Overseas Domestic Worker visa did not surprise anybody, th…

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New visa rules for domestic workers 'wil…

Campaigners say changes announced by Theresa May will mean domestic workers who flee abuse risk…

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Two-thirds cut in migrant workers stayin…

The number of migrant workers allowed to stay permanently in the UK will be cut by two-thirds u…

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Earn 35K to stay in the UK: New pay thre…

MIGRANT workers will have to earn at least £35,000 a year to be allowed to settle in Britain,…

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Lesser Citizens: Indian Migrant Domestic…

Shanta (name changed), a domestic worker came to the U.K with her employer from Delhi, having w…

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Modern day slavery: the plight of domest…

Homa Khaleeli examines why the government’s changes to visas for migrant domestic workers…

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Cameron plans to drop visa that saved hi…

Immigration policy would put foreign domestic workers at the mercy of abusive employers

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The Camerons, their Nepalese nanny and a…

David and Samantha Cameron’s nanny is a Nepalese woman who was recruited from a charity which…

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Melanie McFadyean: Dark Places and Dirty…

How can it be that in a civilised country like the UK people are used as slaves?

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CARJ joins call for Government to retain…

The Catholic Association for Racial Justice (CARJ) has called on the government not to remove t…

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Domestic workers demonstrate over UK vis…

Hundreds of migrant domestic workers have demonstrated outside Parliament against proposed chan…

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Its a numbers game... could we PLEASE us…

Migration, or ‘net migration’ to be more specific, has become all about the numbers. If the…

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London HIV scientist jailed for keeping…

A scientist found guilty of keeping a woman as a slave at her London home has been jailed for s…

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HIV expert kept woman as a slave in Tham…

An HIV expert was jailed today after being convicted of keeping a 21-year-old woman as a slave.…

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Scientist 'smuggled woman from Africa to…

A scientist at one of the world’s leading medical research institutions smuggled a young…

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HIV expert 'beat Tanzanian house slave w…

Young woman ‘was stripped of her passport and banned from contacting family

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US state department concerned by lack of…

International diplomats don cloak of immunity to mask trafficking of domestic servants from the…

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A wound that shames our present

In proposing to remove the most basic safeguards for migrant domestic workers, Jenny Moss asks…

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Behind closed doors: the plight of the U…

A new international convention aims to protect domestic workers from exploitation. Britain, tho…

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One step forward but two steps back for…

When Dalisay* came to the UK as a domestic worker, she had no idea what she was letting herself…

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Servant paid £2.50 an hour wins tribuna…

An Arab Princess has been ordered to pay £175,000 in compensation to a servant paid less than…

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Domestic 'slave' girls sue Met for faili…

Four young women forced into slavery in London by human traffickers have launched a £150,000 H…

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