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Despite going through a complex two-stage system, in 2024 only 4% of non-British nationals who were confirmed to be victims of trafficking were given permission to stay in the UK on that basis. That’s only 176 out of 4,240 people. Over 4,000 adults were refused permission to stay (known as ‘leave to remain’), despite many needing to do so for their safety and recovery and to assist with the prosecution of their traffickers. The situation is no better for children. The government's claim that people are “misusing” modern slavery and trafficking protections to remain in the UK could not be further from the truth.

Over the last weeks, we have been deeply alarmed about the far-right attacks outside asylum hotels and threats of more organised violence across the country. We strongly condemn the racist and vitriolic targeting of people seeking protection in the UK. We stand in solidarity with the men, women, children and families at the sharp end of this hostility, who deserve to live in dignity and with safety.

The Helen Bamber Foundation (HBF) welcomes the government’s decision to scrap the use of ‘scientific methods’ to assess the age of unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the UK. However, we are concerned about the government’s proposals to use artificial intelligence (AI) and facial recognition technologies to assess age, and the ongoing use of visual assessments at the border.

Helen Bamber Foundation Group (HBF Group) is pleased to announce Alison Pickup as their new Chief Executive Officer. Alison, who is currently the Executive Director of Asylum Aid, a charity part of the HBF Group, will take over from Kerry Smith, who has been the CEO of the HBF Group since May 2018 to June 2025

With the far right on the rise globally and the rise in discrimination and hate crimes, we urgently need this government to move away from the demonising language of the past and towards defending everyone's fundamental human rights, with immigration and asylum systems that are fair and humane.

Thousands of people seeking protection, including survivors of trafficking and torture, are placed in squalid hotels, remote large ex-military sites, and dispersal accommodation which is in disrepair. Living in unhygienic and crowded spaces, putting up with substandard food and hostile support staff, and living on an allowance of £8.86 per person per week is an everyday reality for many, as they are not allowed to work while waiting for a decision on their asylum claim. This is compounded by the sheer length of time they spend in these conditions.

The Helen Bamber Foundation welcomes the High Court’s judgment finding that the Home Secretary acted unlawfully in accommodating victims of trafficking, torture and other extreme human cruelty in RAF Wethersfield. The three claimants in the legal challenge all suffered a significant decline in their mental health as a result of living at Wethersfield. It is shocking that the site remains open given the wealth of evidence showing more widely the serious harm that has been caused to men forced to live there.

Parts of the new Border Security, Asylum & Immigration Bill build on the much-needed reforms to the asylum system that the government has made since taking office. It repeals the Safety of Rwanda Act and parts of Illegal Immigration Act (IMA). But many concerns remain.

Helen Bamber Foundation is extremely concerned that the UK government has decided to suspend decision making in Syrian asylum cases. The government is in no position to assume the safety of individuals in such a volatile and developing situation. Helen Bamber Foundation has supported survivors who were tortured by sectarian militias and who would have feared both Bashar al-Assad and sectarian militias, such as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The reasons for Syrian nationals claiming asylum in the UK are multi-faceted, complex and in no way limited solely to the atrocities committed by the Assad regime.

We are horrified and extremely concerned about the far-right racist attacks on asylum hotels and violence against people seeking asylum, refugees, migrants, and minority communities, particularly Muslims. These disturbing images and threats of more organised attacks are taking a huge toll on the mental health of the people we work with – those who have survived some of the worst forms of human cruelty and have arrived in the UK in hope of finding protection.

As we head towards a General Election, we are proud to have added our name to the Fair Begins Here promise from the coalition campaign Together With Refugees.

We are dismayed at the passing of the Safety of Rwanda Bill, which declares Rwanda to be ‘safe’ despite the opposite finding by the Supreme Court, and in doing so allows the UK government to put people seeking asylum at great risk by sending them there.