Thousands of trafficking victims at risk of being forcibly removed from the country will now have their right to recover in the UK from the effects of exploitation considered after the Home Office settled a major case.
The Home Office had argued that people could access treatment in their home countries or that they could be removed because they were not midway through treatment in the UK.
However, after a legal challenge brought by trafficking victims, the department has agreed to settle the case and reconsider its decision to refuse temporary leave to those in need of treatment.
One of the people who brought the case was a man from Vietnam who was first exploited in Russia, where he was subjected to forced labour in a vegetable factory, before being made to work on a cannabis farm in the UK.
He was beaten and told his family back in Vietnam would be killed if he did not comply with the traffickers’ demands.
The man was later diagnosed with PTSD, depression and anxiety after escaping. He was refused temporary permission to stay in the UK even though an expert medical report found that he would not be able to access appropriate mental health support in Vietnam.
Sophie Chadd and Angelo Monni, two of the solicitors from Duncan Lewis representing trafficking victims in the case, said: “This is a significant victory for a vulnerable and heavily traumatised group of people, who had been failed by the previous government’s approach which left survivors of modern slavery in limbo … at high risk of being retrafficked and unable to recover from the effects of their exploitation.”
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In a separate case, brought by an asylum seeker from Sudan who was trafficked in Libya, the Home Office admitted that decisions on the cases of trafficking victims were unlawfully paused because they were on a list of people earmarked to be taken to Rwanda.
The pause, which was not admitted until now, lasted for more than a year and ended in April 2024.
Rachel Etheridge of Gold Jennings solicitors, representing the Sudanese man, said: “The Home Office operated an unpublished policy which had the effect of preventing vulnerable asylum seekers from receiving a humane and lawful reception.
“It obstructed victims from obtaining leave in a timely and lawful manner leaving many to endure (and still endure) the misery and instability connected with limbo, as well as further obstacles to accessing assistance they required for their recovery. The secrecy surrounding the policy prevented it being legally challenged sooner.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Human trafficking is a barbaric crime and we are committed to stamping it out. We cannot comment on individual cases, but it remains the case that victims of human trafficking are referred to the national referral mechanism to ensure they receive the support they need to rebuild their lives.”