Vietnamese Channel migrants fuelling record number of UK modern slavery claims
Vietnamese Channel migrants are fuelling a record rise in potential victims of modern slavery, according to official data.
The number of people referred to the Home Office as suspected victims of modern slavery rose to 4,758 in the three months to September, the highest number on record, and 15 per cent higher than the 4,132 in the same quarter last year.
Some 523, or 11 per cent, of the suspected victims claimants were Vietnamese, the second biggest number after UK nationals. This represents a fivefold increase in just three years from below 100.
It follows a surge in the number of Vietnamese migrants crossing the Channel . In the six months to June this year, Vietnamese migrants accounted for the largest number of small boat arrivals with 2,248 reaching the UK, ahead even of Afghans and Iranians.
The surge in Vietnamese immigrants arriving in the UK illegally has been blamed on a new visa agreement the south-east Asian country signed with Hungary that allows easier access into the EU's Schengen zone.
Tougher security on lorries and the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants in a lorry trailer in Essex in 2019 has also seen them divert away from road routes to small boats.
Vietnamese migrants in the UK tend to be trafficked by gangs into nail bars, cannabis farms, restaurants and the sex trade, which is why crime bosses have preferred lorries rather than small boats, where migrants are likely to be detained by the Border Force.
Anti-slavery campaigners said the Vietnamese migrants were often in debt to the smugglers – they are said to pay at least double the amount of other migrants to secure boat passage across the Channel. They are then exploited into the drug, sex or nail-bar trade to pay off those debts.
However, a people smuggler, known only as Thanh, told the BBC last month that most Vietnamese migrants were not trafficked, and that it was just a line used to claim asylum. "That's the way it's done. [People lie about being trafficked] in order to continue the asylum process safely," he said.
Most of the Vietnamese claiming to be victims of modern slavery are adults, accounting for 81 per cent of the claims. This is the almost exact reverse of the UK nationals referred as potential victims, with 74 per cent being children.
Labour exploitation was the most commonly reported kind of exploitation amongst adults, but children were most often referred for criminal exploitation.
While males most often reported criminal or labour exploitation, women most often reported sexual exploitation, making up just over a third (34 per cent) of referrals.
Assessment under the modern slavery mechanism determines whether, on the balance of probabilities, someone has "reasonable grounds" for statutory access to medical, psychological and legal support – meaning they are considered potential victims.
They are then assessed again and, if considered to be a confirmed victim, given a "positive conclusive grounds" decision. The number of positive decisions has fallen from around 90 per cent to around half after the previous Tory government raised the threshold for qualifying.
It came as Home Office figures showed more than 3,000 migrants arrived in the UK during the busiest fortnight of Channel crossings so far this year.
A total of 3,197 people made the journey between October 24 and November 6, the figures show. This is the busiest 14-day period of crossings for 2024.
Chris Philp, shadow home secretary, said: "Of course it is vital that victims are identified and safeguarded. But I have seen evidence that modern slavery claims, which have a very low threshold for acceptance, being abused to prevent or delay the removal of those with no right to be in the UK.
"A plausible sounding claim with no supporting evidence is often accepted and so the Home Office needs to do more to properly scrutinise claims to ensure limited resources are used supporting genuine victims, and not allow bogus claims to delay or prevent immigration processes."
