Two modern problems: Brexit and slavery
Modern problems often present old challenges. Brexit is one example: promoting free markets while appeasing social entitlements presents a divided political mandate that has troubled all capitalist democracies. But Brexit also presents an older challenge, now recognised as a modern problem: slavery.
Theresa May has referred to modern slavery as “the great human rights issue of our time”, with the estimated number of victims in the UK reaching the tens of thousands. The PM has used the 2017 UN general assembly to renew her campaign against slavery, marking the occasion with the publication of a call to action that has so far been endorsed by 37 nations.
Unfortunately, the blind may be leading the blind: May has not realised that her own policies are liable to creating the conditions in which workers can fall victim to slavery. Brexit has emboldened policies based on free market economics and restrictive immigration, both of which can stand at odds with the aim of “defeating modern slavery”.
Since the referendum, the PM’s promise of a “more outward-looking, global Britain” seizes upon a free market economic policy that aims to restore the conditions for profitable growth on the basis of flexibility: the UK should trade with who it wants. One issue is how the UK can take a lead on fighting slavery when Brexit has forced the PM to negotiate with economies driven by exploitation. Nations such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia persist with kafala, a system of tied visas which effectively empower unscrupulous employers to enslave tens of thousands of migrant construction and domestic workers. Such nations may compromise with a trade deal on the table, but is a compromise good enough?
Another issue is how economic flexibility has manifested as legislative precariousness for many workers in the UK. Particularly, migrant domestic workers (MDWs) — those persons coming to the UK to work in or for households — are excluded from many statutory rights in relation to working hours, minimum wage and health and safety. Lacking basic legal protections, many of these workers are subject to exploitative working conditions and abuse. Research by Kalayaan, the UK’s leading organisation for MDWs, has found that the majority of MDWs work for over 16 hours a day, many of whom suffer psychological and physical abuse by their employers. Basic statutory rights would help protect workers against oppressive market forces.
Gaps in legal protections are widened by the UK’s restrictive visa regime for MDWs. While the Immigration Act 2016 has reformed the regime so that MDWs are no longer formally tied to their employers, the reality is that the bond is still strong. Under the Immigration Rules, MDWs can find a new employer but have to do so within a six-month period of their initial visa. Ignoring the recommendation of James Ewin QC that extensions should total two and a half years, the current limit is likely to be problematic, as it gives workers limited time to find a new employer or obtain appropriate references.
Under the same Rules, MDWs seeking to remain in the UK as a victim of slavery or human trafficking can remain in the UK for up to two years, but on the basis that the victim will have no access to public funds such as unemployment benefits. What’s more, those victims are restricted to employment as domestic workers in private households. This legal framework leaves MDWs trapped in the same employment context that led to their exploitation, rendering an unjust catch-22 scenario.
May’s “global Britain” must become more inward-looking to remove these obstacles to defeating slavery. Otherwise, good intentions are likely to go unrealised. Legislative initiatives like the Modern Slavery Act 2015 are “pioneering” on paper but do not secure the “pathway to recovery” in fact. To date, less than half of UK companies who should have complied with legal obligations to disclose slavery and trafficking risks in their supply chains have done so. How does the Government expect to enforce similar obligations in a more globalized economy with evermore complex supply chains?
And while law enforcement is an important component of defeating modern slavery, we cannot prosecute our way out of an issue that is deeply embedded in much of the international economy. May’s focus on punitive justice fails to recognise the urgent need to empower those vulnerable to enslavement with basic human rights.
Unfortunately, the appeal of “quick and strong justice” has extended to the UK’s visa regime, which arguably manufactures problems of illegality for MDWs and undocumented migrant workers more generally. This may arise in a number of situations, where a worker: cannot prove lawful entry, has overstayed their visa, or is working without permission for another employer. Quite often, these situations will arise through no fault of the worker. For instance, where a dishonest employer withholds the worker’s passport or fails to provide a reference for future employers. Acting alone, punitive justice can often mistake victims for criminals.
As May takes the international stage to overcome the challenges of Brexit and slavery, it must be understood that these are two modern problems that stand together not alone. And that is a real challenge.
Tristan Goodman is the Founder, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief at LawSpring, as well as a Future Trainee Solicitor at a City law firm.
