Today, Thursday 5th March 2020, the government will introduce the new Immigration Bill to parliament, as announced here.

FLEX Senior Adviser, Emily Kenway, comments:

“Highly restrictive immigration regimes can increase exploitation, including modern slavery offences. Research has shown that hostile environments do not deter migration; instead, they only make migrants more vulnerable to abuse. We need to decide, as a country, whether we want to ensure healthy communities and workplaces by giving everyone rights, no matter their status, or whether we want to increase exploitation on our shores. Brexit is necessitating a shake up of our immigration system; it’s absolutely crucial that we use this opportunity to end the harmful hostile environment. In particular, we must repeal the illegal working offence and ensure all workers can access help if they experience abuse at work without the fear of being criminalised. Without doing this, immigration policy will be undermining anti-slavery aims.“