Dame Sara Thornton warns of unintended consequences of Nationality and Borders Bill in The Independent.

The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s concerns about the unintended consequences of the Nationality and Borders Bill for victims of modern slavery have been raised in The Independent today. In a recent interview with Social Affairs Correspondent May Bulman the Commissioner warned that conflation between immigration and modern slavery could lead to further exploitation of  victims and undermines the UK’s ability to prosecute traffickers. Dame Sara also voiced concerns about the Home Office’s decision in November to create the Immigration Enforcement Competent Authority which grants immigration enforcement teams the power to decide on National Referral Mechanism (NRM) cases. 

In the article Dame Sara Thornton, Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, said:

"I worry we’re looking at the issue through an immigration lens, which is the entire opposite approach to the Modern Slavery Act – which is about victims, their protection, and prosecuting offenders.

“With [the government’s] very strong focus on immigration and borders, my argument is we risk unintended consequences for our fight against modern slavery in both pursuing the traffickers and protecting the victims."

Read the full article here.

ENDS.