LONDON, September 17, 2025 – A new report challenges the narrative pushed by successive UK home secretaries, finding limited evidence that asylum seekers are falsely claiming to be victims of modern slavery to remain in the country.
Modern Slavery claims: Not a Widespread abuse
A center-right thinktank’s findings cast doubt on claims that the system is being exploited by those seeking to avoid deportation.
- The Radiant Blue report found little support for the idea that asylum seekers are widely abusing the modern slavery referral system.
- 97% of modern slavery claims originate from public bodies, not directly from asylum seekers.
- The current Home Secretary’s plans to overhaul the rules may not significantly reduce asylum claimant numbers.
- Most individuals identified as victims of modern slavery do not receive indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
Q: Are asylum seekers exploiting the UK’s modern slavery laws? A: The report indicates that widespread abuse of the system is unlikely,with the vast majority of referrals originating from official sources and most identified victims receiving only temporary support.
The report from bright Blue suggests that assertions made by several home secretaries-blaming the system for hindering deportations-are not supported by the data. The findings also raise questions about the potential effectiveness of the current Home Secretary’s pledge to rewrite the UK’s modern slavery rules, following “vexatious, last-minute claims” following a high court decision on September 16, 2025, that blocked the deportation of an Eritrean man slated for transfer to Paris, after he asserted he was a victim of trafficking. She has pledged to rewrite the UK’s modern slavery rules, but the Bright Blue report casts doubt on whether this will significantly impact asylum numbers.
The report’s analysis revealed that 90% of those referred were assessed as having reasonable grounds to be considered victims, suggesting that the vast majority of cases are legitimate.furthermore, being identified as a victim of modern slavery dose not automatically grant indefinite leave to remain in the UK; it more commonly results in compensation and only temporary permission to stay.
The authors propose that the government should prioritize training statutory first-responder organizations-such as the Home Office and Border Force-to more effectively detect signs of trafficking and slavery. They suggest that once this is achieved, ministers could prohibit individuals in detention-who have already been assessed by these organizations-from being referred for assessment at all.
A Home Office spokesperson stated,”Modern slavery referrals are rising. This is why the home secretary announced reforms … to identify vulnerable people and stop misuse.” The spokesperson added that the reforms “fundamentally reform the approach to illegal migration, making Britain a less attractive destination for illegal migrants and harder for people to block their removal from this country.”
