It has been a good week!

We work with people for whom life is hard a lot of the time and it can be hard sometimes to know what to do, or what the right thing to say is. The external landscape can feel overwhelming, working in systems that are unjust and that present more barriers to recovery than solutions. However, we can end this week a little bit more hopeful of change…

• This week after a judicial review the Secretary of State for the Home Department has agreed to withdraw, reconsider and revise parts of the Modern Slavery Statutory Guidance that required a potential victim of trafficking to produce ‘objective evidence’ of their exploitation to obtain a reasonable grounds decision which would stop victims of Modern Slavery support when they need it the most.
• The Court of Appeal ruled that the Rwanda policy was unlawful, another policy that could have negatively impacted those recovering from the impact of slavery
• Then on Wednesday the House of Lords voted on the new Illegal immigration bill, some of the key clauses affecting individuals who have experienced Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery were;
  •  The Lords voted to remove the provision of the illegal immigration Bill that would see the duty to deport apply retrospectively to those who arrived in the UK without permission from March 7th, when the Bill was introduced.
  • The Lords voted against the amendment to remove the provision of the Bill that would allow claimed victims of modern slavery or human trafficking to be removed from the UK.
  • The Lords voted to amend to Clause 21, to restore current protections of victims of trafficking and modern slavery

It’s not over but these are some significant signs of hope. As an organisation we will continues to stand in solidarity with those seeking refuge and safety in the UK and will do what we can to advocate for change.