René Cassin recently submitted evidence to the Home Affairs Committee inquiry, looking at what progress has been made in the three years since the Modern Slavery Act (MSA) came into force and what more remains to be done.
In the submission, René Cassin examined the ‘guidance’ status of the MSA, which is less influential than the Immigration Act when it comes to the treatment of victims who do not have leave to remain in the UK. For victims of modern slavery and human trafficking, the detrimental impact of their immigration status is most notable when this results in their detention in an Immigration Removal Centre.
René Cassin also discussed section 54 of the MSA, which does not go far enough in ensuring businesses with an annual turnover of over £36m annually publish a slavery and human trafficking statement, nor does it encourage smaller businesses to also publish a statement.
Mia Hasenson-Gross, Director of René Cassin stated:
“Slavery and trafficking are unavoidably connected to Jewish experience and the Jewish community has made clear its commitment to tackling modern day slavery. It is clear that the government should be doing more to ensure that victim’s welfare is at the forefront of immigration policy, as well as place greater responsibility on businesses to tackle the issue within their own supply chains”.
You can read the full submission here.
