West Mercia Police deal with more than 100 modern slavery cases in a year

Figures show there has been a rise in the number of referrals for support across the UK, and anti-slavery charities are now calling on the Government to stop "distracting attention from the real criminals" ahead of Anti-Slavery Day on Tuesday, October 18.

It comes after Home Secretary Suella Braverman received criticism for attributing the increase in modern slavery victims to migrants "gaming the system" by claiming asylum in the UK as victims of slavery, and reclassifying the crime as an "illegal immigration and asylum" issue, rather than a safeguarding one.

The latest Home Office figures show 118 potential modern slavery cases were referred to West Mercia Police for investigation in the year to June – and of them, 72 were aged 17 and under.

The total number is down from 155 the year before but across the UK, modern slavery referrals for suspected victims have risen.

There were 14,600 in the year to June, and 5,800 of them were children – up from 11,600 and 5,200 respectively the year before.

Potential cases are flagged through the National Referral Mechanism, which allows first responders, including local authorities, charities and certain government departments, to refer them to police for investigation.

Revealing plans to crack down on what she sees as fraudulent claims for asylum under the Modern Slavery Act, Ms Braverman said recently: "The truth is that many of them are not modern slaves and their claims of being trafficked are lies."

Since the new Home Office was formed, modern slavery has been listed as an "illegal immigration and asylum" issue overseen by the immigration minister, rather than under the duties of the safeguarding minister as before.

The action came ahead of Anti-Slavery Day, which is hosted by a range of anti-slavery charities and organisations, including Hope For Justice, and raises awareness of the 50 million people in slavery around the world.

Hope for Justice said Ms Braverman's reclassification of modern slavery is "highly regressive" and the shifting of responsibility will exacerbate the issue.

Meanwhile, anti-slavery charity Unseen said the numbers show there is still a long way to go to eradicate slavery in the UK and called on the Government to "stop conflating modern slavery and immigration".

"The Government has provided no evidence that asylum seekers are gaming the system, and by putting out such spurious claims without facts or context is verging on irresponsible," CEO Andrew Wallis added.

"The result is we’re treating vulnerable people as criminals when they most need our help, and distracting attention from the real criminals behind slavery and trafficking."

Detective Superintendent Jonathan Roberts, vulnerability and safeguarding lead for West Mercia Police, said: “Modern slavery and human trafficking is absolutely abhorrent. We are committed to ensuring that any such offences are investigated thoroughly so that vulnerable people are kept safe and offenders are brought to justice.

“Modern slavery could be happening in your community so it’s important you are familiar with the signs that could indicate someone is a victim and help us to investigate by reporting any concerns.”

The charity Unseen has useful guidance on spotting the signs at unseenuk.org and concerns around modern slavery can be reported to the Modern Slavery & xploitation helpline on 08000 121700 or at modernslaveryhelpline.org/report