Thousands of trafficking victims who had government support payments removed in the midst of the pandemic are entitled to back payments that could run into millions of pounds, following a high court ruling that found the policy to be unlawful.
Its decision came after the Home Office removed financial support in July 2020 for trafficking victims who had claimed asylum and were being accommodated in hotels.
Previously people in this group were entitled to up to £65 per week support from the Home Office, and were usually placed in self-contained accommodation where they would buy and prepare their own food. Once the pandemic started some were placed in hotels and the money withdrawn.
People were left without basic necessities such as toothpaste and sanitary products and there were reports that some had to resort to begging.
The Home Office on 30 August performed a U-turn on the policy after legal action was launched.
The high court ruling on Friday by Peter Marquand, sitting as a deputy high court judge, found that the Home Office’s sudden policy change axing support to trafficking victims who had also claimed asylum was unlawful. A separate high court hearing will be arranged to discuss the details of making back payments to the people who wrongly had their money taken away in 2020.
The case was brought by a man who was trafficked from Ghana to the UK in March 2011. He was held captive in a property in Birmingham and forced to work for his captors. He was physically abused with beatings before escaping. In November 2019, he was arrested as an illegal immigrant and identified as a potential victim of trafficking. In March 2020, he was provided with government support and placed in temporary accommodation in a hotel, receiving £35 a week support and three meals a day.
On 10 July 2020 his financial support was cut off before later being reinstated at a lower rate.
Ahmed Aydeed of Duncan Lewis solicitors, which brought the case on behalf of the trafficking victim, said: “We welcome the court’s ruling and hope survivors can now finally get the basic support they were entitled to and they so desperately need. However we will never know how many survivors were re-trafficked and fell back into debt bondage due to the home secretary’s unlawful action.”
Zoe Dexterthe welfare and housing manager at the Helen Bamber Foundation, which supports asylum seekers and victims of trafficking, also welcomed the ruling and said that when the money was withdrawn in 2020 the foundation stepped in to provide emergency support.
“The decision of the Home Office, in the summer of 2020, to suddenly take away vitally important subsistence funds from survivors of trafficking, who were also seeking asylum, was devastating for so many affected.” She said this group was left without adequate access to food, travel, and means of keeping in contact with their support networks.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “It is incorrect to say the judge found the policy on financial support unlawful. The government provides financial support to all potential and confirmed victims of modern slavery to meet essential living needs and assist with recovery.
“Due to pressures from the pandemic and to ensure asylum seekers were not left destitute, additional full-board accommodation was required, and potential or confirmed victims of modern slavery continued to receive a payment on top of this. We remain committed to supporting the recovery of all potential and confirmed victims of modern slavery and are carefully considering next steps following this judgment.”