Resource

Drawing on our lived experience of torture, trafficking and other forms of extreme cruelty, we - the Ambassadors for Change - are a committed group of campaigners working to ensure the UK is a welcoming and fair place for people seeking safety. Some of us have been granted leave to remain in the UK, whilst others still have pending immigration and asylum cases. All of us have different backgrounds and different trauma histories.

Many of us took a long time to discuss and disclose what had happened to us. We all think it is crucial that survivors have access to the support and resources they need to survive and thrive.

In recent years, we have noticed a shift in how people discuss survivors, particularly those who are in the immigration or asylum systems. The focus has changed from trying to identify, support and protect people, to implying that they are all liars. The Home Office has described some people as making “vexatious, last-minute claims” or “deciding that they are a modern slave on the eve of their removal.”

This rhetoric risks discrediting survivors, discouraging people from coming forward and reinforcing harmful stereotypes. It is not only hurtful; it is dangerous, as it undermines survivors’ ability to seek protection and access the support they need.

Many of us had the same limited understanding of trafficking that much of society has: that it looks a certain way and only impacts certain people. Sometimes it took us longer to realise that it was impacting our own communities.

Everyone can have a different attitude towards what they have experienced. The memories can be so personal and so difficult to explore that we do not feel safe sharing them with other people. For many of us, even thinking about what happened can have a severe impact on our mental health, let alone talking about it with someone else.

Sometimes it can be hard to accept that what happened to you was wrong. For example, when the person exploiting you was a family member or friend, it can be difficult to admit that they harmed you. The threat of what you have experienced can loom over you. If you still have a connection with the person who hurt you, and they are even in the UK with you, you can be terrified that the same thing might happen again.

Even if you are able to come to terms with or share your experiences, there can be very little information and understanding about the help and support available. And when you do begin to open up, the difficulties do not simply disappear. Processes in the UK often involve having to recount your experiences repeatedly to different professionals, including the police, the Home Office, doctors, social services and others.

The UK has a National Referral Mechanism (NRM), a system designed to identify and support survivors of trafficking. However, in our experience, many survivors do not even know this system exists, let alone that it could help them.

Last year, we highlighted the many problems surrounding access to quality, free legal representation. We have seen this problem repeatedly in our communities, and it can be vital for those navigating the NRM, immigration processes and the asylum system. For many survivors of trafficking, it is a significant part of the problem.

Yet even having a lawyer does not guarantee that you can access the support you need. Some of us had legal representation for months or even years before we learned that the NRM existed. We did not know that our experiences of exploitation might be relevant to our asylum or immigration claims, nor that support might be available to help us recover from them.

These challenges are only some of the barriers that prevent survivors of trafficking from accessing the support they need. Despite this reality, the government is eroding some of the few support systems available to survivors.

We are deeply concerned about the Immigration and Asylum Bill currently progressing through Parliament and the devastating impact it could have on both the modern slavery and asylum systems in the UK. Clauses in the Bill include changing the asylum appeals system, and denying identification and support to survivors who have been convicted of crimes, even when those offences were committed as a result of exploitation.

The Bill also proposes ending grants of permission to stay in the UK for recovery from trafficking and, perhaps most concerningly, risks punishing survivors for the common trauma response of struggling to disclose what has happened to them.

These measures could empower exploiters and push vulnerable people into hiding, preventing them from seeking help.

The Bill is cruel and inhumane. It makes us feel as though we are being punished for seeking protection and safety. We are concerned that these proposed changes could expose survivors to further exploitation by eroding their rights and increasing their vulnerability.

We have all learned that recovery from trauma is a process. Running for your life always comes at a huge cost. Damage of this kind cannot be healed overnight. Recovery takes time. The burden of trauma can remain with you for years. Receiving permission to remain in the UK does not erase what has happened.

Recovery can involve many elements: therapy, healthcare, secure relationships and networks, and reliable access to basic needs. There is no fixed timeline, and recovery looks different for everyone. The more our rights are diminished, the longer and more uncertain our paths to recovery become.

Living a normal life is a basic human right. As human beings, why should we be forced to live without the peace, freedom and dignity that everyone deserves?

Where are we supposed to seek safety? How can a survivor recover without stability, or when they are constantly worried about housing, legal status, travel or mental health?

We encourage you to listen to and amplify our voices. Put yourself in our shoes. Think about the people with lived experience whom you represent. Stand for truth. Fight for, not against, human rights. Remember survivors’ humanity.