Policy paper

Illegal Migration Bill: modern slavery factsheet

Updated 20 July 2023

What will the modern slavery measures in the bill do?

Where someone has entered the UK illegally and is identified as a potential victim of modern slavery, we will ensure they are returned home or to another safe country, away from those who have trafficked them. The UK government is committed to supporting victims of modern slavery and will continue to do so through the National Referral Mechanism.

But it is vital that the government takes steps to reduce or remove incentives for individuals to enter the country illegally. These illegal practices pose an exceptional threat to public order, risk lives, and place unprecedented pressure on public services.

This is what the modern slavery clauses in the Illegal Migration Bill are seeking to address. We have designed this to be compliant with our international obligations. The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (or what is often referred to as ‘ECAT’) recognises that the duty of signatory states to provide potential victims with a recovery period, appropriate support and protection from removal may be withheld on grounds of ‘public order’.

Will there be exceptions to your policy?

Clause 21 is not a blanket approach. Where the secretary of state is satisfied that an individual is participating in an investigation or criminal proceedings relating to the individual’s alleged exploitation and considers that it is necessary for the person to be present in the UK to provide that cooperation and considers that the cooperation outweighs any significant risk of serious harm to the public the individual may pose, that individual will be exempt from the disqualification.

For all measures in the bill, the secretary of state is not required to make arrangements to remove an unaccompanied child from the UK until they turn 18 years old, but there is a power to do so. As a matter of current policy this power will only be exercised in limited circumstances ahead of them reaching adulthood, such as for the purposes of family reunion or where removal is to a safe country of origin.

Why are the modern slavery measures important to implement?

This measure in the Illegal Migration Bill is intended to deal with the immediate and pressing broader public order risk arising from the exceptional circumstances relating to illegal entry into the UK, including the pressure placed on public services by the large number of illegal entrants and the loss of life caused by illegal and dangerous journeys.

Individuals entering the country illegally pose a threat to public order by making dangerous journeys that are inherently unsafe and can cause loss of life. They put a strain on public services and evade immigration controls.

In 2022, there were around 17,000 referrals into the NRM, the highest annual number to date and a 33% increase on 2021 (12,706) and a 625% increase since 2014 (2,337). The average time taken from referral to conclusive grounds decisions made in 2022 across the competent authorities was 543 days, compared to 449 days in the previous year.

In 2022, the most commonly referred nationality into the NRM was Albanian nationals, 27% (4,613) of all people referred, which is a safe European country, signatory of ECAT, and NATO ally.

The NRM referral rate for people arriving in the UK on small boats and being detained for return has risen from 6% (50) of detentions ending in 2019 to 73% (294) in 2021. The referral rate has since fallen slightly to 65% (842) for detentions ending between January and September 2022. In contrast, where people were not detained for return, less than 3% of people who arrived in 2021 were referred to the NRM within 3 months of entering the UK.

The protections that the NRM provide are open to misuse and could act as an incentive for those making dangerous journeys, particularly in light of other ways of staying the UK being closed off through the bill. Removing this incentive is compliant with our international obligations under ECAT. This is due to the unprecedented threat to public order through loss of lives and pressure on public services that illegal entry to the UK is causing. These measures are time limited, automatically elapsing after 2 years (subject to assessment) to reflect the exceptional nature of the crisis.

How can it be within international law to remove people you know to be modern slaves to a third country?

The UK has led the world in protecting victims of modern slavery and we will continue to identify and support those who have suffered intolerable abuse at the hands of criminals and traffickers.

The Illegal Migration Bill allows the UK to disqualify referrals made by illegal migrants on public order grounds given the risks associated with largescale illegal migration and safely return individuals to their home country where possible, or to another safe third country like Rwanda. This is explicitly provided for within article 13 of the international treaty against human trafficking (ECAT), which states that signatories can remove suspected modern slaves before the end of the binding 30-day “recovery and reflection” period if grounds of public order prevent it and can enforce an expulsion order.

The Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) is underpinned by a memorandum of understanding which states that Rwanda will have regard to information provided by the UK relating to any special needs an individual may have that may arise as a result of their being a victim of modern slavery and human trafficking. Rwanda will take all necessary steps to ensure these needs are accommodated.

Currently, countries are already able to remove victims of modern slavery after a conclusive grounds decision to another country, provided their needs are met there – just as we provide for in our partnership with Rwanda.

Don’t the measures in the IMB overlap with the measures in NABA?

Clause 21 of this bill and section 63 in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (NABA) are separate measures reflecting the position under article 13 of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. Section 63 of the Nationality and Borders Act applies to individuals with specific serious criminal convictions, terrorism offences and measures, or those who have been assessed as otherwise posing a national security risk to the UK.

The measure in the Illegal Migration Bill is intended to deal with the immediate and pressing broader public order risk arising from the exceptional circumstances relating to illegal entry into the UK, including the pressure placed on public services by the large number of illegal entrants and the loss of life caused by illegal and dangerous journey. Clause 21 of this bill contains an exception to this public order disqualification. The secretary of state retains the right to apply section 63 of the Nationality and Borders Act to that person if they still pose a threat to public order and meet the requirements of that measure.

NABA measures were designed to tackle long-term NRM reform through clarifying the reasonable grounds threshold, the circumstances around temporary permission to stay, and disqualification on the grounds of public order and bad faith.