Anti-trafficking organisations unite to call on parliamentarians to mitigate the worst effects of the Illegal Migration Bill
/The ‘Illegal’ Migration Bill is a charter for exploitation, trafficking and modern slavery.
It will:
Dismantle the UK’s systems of trafficking and modern slavery protection
Deny protection to victims of this crime
Drive trafficking and enable perpetrators to act with impunity.
The ‘Illegal Migration Bill’ is bad law
It is cruel, inhumane and entirely unworkable. It undermines the universality of human rights in the UK, creating a dangerous precedent that particular groups can be stripped of their rights.
The ‘Illegal Migration’ Bill breaks numerous domestic and international laws
Among them, two of the most important international conventions requiring the UK to prevent trafficking, protect victims and survivors, and prosecute perpetrators: the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Convention for Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (ECAT). ECAT requires the government to have support measures in place that would allow victims and survivors to recover from this grave crime, including medical assistance, accommodation, financial support, and legal advice.
This week, Parliamentarians have the opportunity to stand up for victims and survivors and stand against traffickers
The House of Commons will consider amendments to the ‘Illegal’ Migration Bill. One of which, a cross-party amendment on international obligations, would require that nothing in the Bill requires the UK to break its international obligations, including under the ECHR and ECAT.
Today, 34 organisations working to end trafficking and modern slavery, unite to urge Parliamentarians to support this amendment in order to mitigate the worst effects of the Bill on victims and survivors of trafficking and modern slavery
Read the anti-trafficking sector joint ‘Illegal Migration Bill’ briefing July 2023
