The global economic crisis has pushed many vulnerable people around the world into seeking employment opportunities abroad. Unfortunately, many of these individuals are subjected to modern slavery practices. The UK is no exception as reports of exploitation of migrant care workers by employers and recruiters have emerged in recent years. According to a report from the Centre for Social Justice, an estimated 13,000 people have been subjected to modern slavery in the UK.
The new health and care worker visa was introduced by the government in 2020 to help meet the high labour shortage in the sector. The inclusion of this role into the Shortage of Labour (SOL) list made it more accessible to, and popular amongst, overseas applicants and attractive to UK healthcare employers. Whilst the visa appeared to serve its purpose in cushioning labour shortages in the industry, there are now growing concerns of worker exploitation.
Reports have shown that migrant workers have been subjected to verbal and physical abuse and forced to work long hours with little or no breaks. In a 2022 study by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, live-in migrant care workers lamented poor experiences ranging from sleep deprivation whilst offering care at night, to not getting breaks they were entitled to. Furthermore, employers and recruiters have been known to charge workers exorbitant fees for recruitment and other services, sometimes ranging from £3,000 to £18,000, according to a Guardian report. Due to the vulnerable and precarious position many workers find themselves in, they are often too afraid to report the abuse and exploitation they face.
It is not uncommon for care workers to experience harassment at work and threats of dismissal if they make even the smallest mistakes. In some cases, migrant care workers even reported being subjected to sexual exploitation. Workers sharing their experiences of abuse have given accounts of the means their employers adopt to instil fear such as being threatened with homelessness and being reported to the police and the Home Office. In some cases, employees have reported that employers withheld their passports to keep them working against their will. With many being so afraid that they could be deported and therefore fearful of speaking up, the concern is that these incidents are under-reported.
Despite working hard, many care staff experience dire financial difficulties and struggle to meet their basic needs. Many workers have reported being trapped in debt bondage due to the various fees they've incurred from recruitment agencies. These fees range from "placement fees", as an agency put it on its website, visa application support fees - which should only be legally charged by lawyers and registered immigration experts - and certificate of sponsorship processing fees - a cost that is normally met by employers. Many workers reportedly spend the first two to three months in their new role repaying debts incurred for those payments. Unfortunately, such accounts are not unique, and there are many more migrant care workers who have been subjected to exploitation and abuse who will remain silent due to fear of repercussions.
Many care agencies recruited overseas workers with enticing promises only to renege once they'd arrived in the UK. Some were given job roles different to those offered and were moved to work across the country within a short period of arrival without relocation support. In some cases, new migrants were subjected to desperate house-hunting after their employers failed to provide accommodation promised during the recruitment process.
The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, a UK government sponsored Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) has been conducting raids across care homes enforce compliance in the industry. It has arrested many employers, including individuals involved in supplying vulnerable students to care homes. But experts want more compelling measures and ask the government to put in place clear-cut guidelines for individuals and groups operating in the sector.
Debbie Ariyo who chairs the BME Anti-Slavery Network (BASNET), an organisation that promotes racial equity, diversity and inclusion in the UK anti-trafficking sector, said "there is hardly any government policy in place to compel agents that offer employment opportunities on behalf of many companies in the UK care sector and other industries." The lack of government oversight, in her view, allows these recruiters to exploit migrant workers. She said her organisation has seen many cases of migrants unpaid for months, thereby leaving their families in dire financial constraints.
Cases like these sometimes involve vulnerable people including international students who are desperate to work beyond the time limit allowed on their visas. They are therefore easily exploited and paid little or nothing because they cannot go to the authorities to report as they also run afoul of the law themselves. She emphasised the need for a "strict" guideline regarding eligibility criteria for those working as agents recruiting workers from overseas and how they should carry out their operations.
Reacting to the issue, John Cahill, an immigration lawyer and partner at Immigration Advice Service (IAS), a law firm that provides immigration advice and representation to migrants across the UK, advocated for employees' awareness of their rights. Helping workers learn to recognise workplace abuse and giving them the confidence and reassurance to report it when it occurs without fearing the effect on their immigration status would be a crucial step forward.
"Nobody should have the threat of removal or other immigration enforcement action used against them as a tool of coercion or abuse," he said. There will only be progress when migrant workers feel safe to report abuse without fearing the consequences to their [immigration] status."
In the same vein, it is also important that prospective workers do their due diligence before agreeing to come to the UK to work, advised Ariyo, who is also Chief Executive of AFRUCA, a UK charity that addresses child safeguarding and child trafficking issues in African diaspora communities.
"Before they go on a plane to come and take up a job opportunity that sounds so good to be true, they should do their due diligence and make sure that they are not coming here to end up being financially exploited for their labour," she said. "They should also make sure that they are not going to end up homeless or living in terrible conditions much worse than where they are coming from."
To address these issues, the UK government must take more extensive and concerted steps to ensure that employers are held accountable for their actions, which must include investigating allegations of abuse, penalising those found culpable, and protecting the rights of employees.