The Immigration and Asylum Bill, presented in the House of Commons on 30 June 2026, contains a series of provisions which, if put into law, will largely limit the identification of victims of trafficking (VOT) and modern slavery.
The Bill includes a series of amendments to the Nationality and Border Act of 2022. Section 60 lists a set of criteria for authorities to consider the credibility of a VOT claim. This includes any delays to their claim, and any material inaccuracy, inconsistency or omission made in the material provided.
A caveat is provided under paragraph 3 of the same section, in that it does not apply if the competent authority is satisfied that there are ‘good reasons’ for the delay or inaccuracies in information. It is not clear what ‘good reasons’ are, resulting in a broad discretion to the authorities to determine this.
In addition to this, a new provision under Section 63a provides a bad faith disqualification from protection. Bad faith covers circumstances where the claim was made at a time when the person was due to be removed from the UK, or if the information provided in support of the claim was knowingly false or fabricated.
Children under 18 will also be impacted by this. Whilst clause 38 exempts children from being disqualified under this provision, it only applies if they have right of abode or leave to remain which will penalise those without valid status.
Whilst making it more difficult to identify victims, it also weakens existing protections by removing the ability of a victim of modern slavery temporary permission to stay (also known as VTS leave). This is leave granted for recovery needs, including the prevention of re-trafficking and ability to request compensation. As it stands the recovery period must last for at least 30 days. The Bill would allow for someone to be removed immediately following a negative conclusive grounds decision.
These provisions are problematic for several reasons. Firstly, it wrongly conflates modern slavery with immigration issues such as migrant smuggling. Modern slavery is not an immigration issue. Statistics published by the UK Government revealed out of the 23,411 potential victims of modern slavery identified in the UK, the largest nationality were UK nationals.
There are also misconceptions as to the system being misused. The Bill is premised on the notion that ‘NRM is susceptible to misuse, in particular to delay or prevent immigration removal action’. As pointed out by the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, in 2025 only 4 claims were disqualified on the basis of bad faith (0.02%). Additionally, people cannot self-refer to the Home Office for identification. Rather, a First Responder (such as the police, local authorities and certain certified charities) must identify potential exploitation indicators and make the referral.
It also ignores the lived reality of exploited persons who are often slow to come forward as victims of modern slavery due to a distrust of authorities and a general fear of repercussion or punishment either by their exploiters or the state. They have often been severely traumatised and suffer mental health issues as a result of their exploitation, impacting their ability to recall facts about identity, location or situation. The Bill’s provisions, aimed at tackling ‘misuse of the system’, will therefore largely result in denying many trafficked persons VOT status if enacted.
This bill has to go through various parliamentary procedures before it becomes law, including debates in both houses and possible amendments. The bill is currently in the committee stage of review in the House of Commons where it will subject to close scrutiny and possible amendment ahead of its third reading.
Southwell & Partners advises on modern slavery. Should you require advice in relation to these types of exploitation, please get in contact with us.
