May 2, 2025
20 Members of the House of Lords continue to press the Home Office over the right to work for survivors of trafficking
Currently, thousand of survivors wait years in the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for a Conclusive Grounds decision as to their status as victims of trafficking and modern slavery. Kalayaan has been campaigning for the Government to grant the right to work to all survivors so that they may regain agency, heal and recover from their experiences, and contribute to the economy.
Following a letter signed by 11 members of the House of Lords requesting that all survivors in the NRM be given the right to work, Jess Phillips MP (Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls) sent a letter in reply, acknowledging that there are significant challenges for survivors in the NRM.
“We know that victims are waiting far too long for a decision. I witnessed firsthand how detrimental it is to their wellbeing and recovery, to have to wait for a conclusive grounds decision on their case for months, sometimes years. After being brutalised, dehumanised, and exploited, after finding the strength to come forward to authorities, these courageous people have been in limbo, unable to move on with their lives with any certainty or stability.”
The Minister then set out the work she and the Modern Slavery Unit in the Home Office are doing towards remedying these challenges.
While Minister Phillips ought to be commended for the hard work she had undertaken in this area, members of the House of Lords continue to press the Minister for a solution to those survivors facing destitution while backlogs are being dealt with. Indeed, this week, 20 members of the House of Lords sent a response to Minister Phillips raising further issues and asking to hear solutions to these.
“We remain concerned about the wellbeing of the survivors currently in the NRM who will continue to wait for excessive periods until the backlog is dealt with – in two years’ time. We believe granting the right to work to these survivors will dramatically improve their situation and will benefit the UK economy.”
Likewise, Kalayaan thanks Minister Phillips for her response and her hard work in this area. However, we remain concerned that the solutions being implemented will have beneficial effects only in the long run, and that many survivors currently in the NRM continue to languish in a system that forces them into destitution if they do not have the right to work.
Kalayaan will continue to engage with the Minister to understand what solution she might have for survivors urgently and presently suffering from a challenged system that ought to be enabling their recovery but appears to be impeding it.