Theresa May is to confront the Home Office after it was found to have kept an “appalling” asylum policy secret, amid internal fears that its approach would be attacked by the former prime minister and other senior politicians.
In an extraordinary finding, the high court concluded last week that the Home Office had operated a secret policy that affected the asylum rights of at least 1,500 people found to be genuine victims of trafficking and modern slavery.
It heard that ministers had secretly opted not to implement a court ruling stating that confirmed victims of trafficking and modern slavery should be given leave to remain in the UK while their asylum claims were pending. The Home Office instead “held” such cases for months, barring those affected from work, renting, opening a bank account or accessing mainstream benefits.
During the case, an internal Home Office memo showed that officials were concerned about “how this [policy] will be viewed by both stakeholders and senior parliamentarians, specifically Rt Hon Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Rt Hon Mrs Theresa May”. Both May, a former prime minister and home secretary, and Duncan Smith, a former Tory leader, have campaigned on behalf of modern slavery victims.
Another disclosure from the Home Office showed an official warning that automatically handing such a right to trafficking victims would have “significant operational implications” and was likely to impact “our ability to clear the asylum legacy backlog by the end of December 2023”. Rishi Sunak had pledged to clear the backlog by the end of that year.
The revelations have angered both the named senior Tories and are likely to lead to questions being asked in parliament. A spokesperson for May said: “Firstly, Mrs May is appalled that a number of victims of modern slavery appear to have lost their rights. Secondly, she is concerned that the Home Office wanted to keep this policy hidden from the public, and she will be writing to the home secretary.”
The findings have also caused wider concerns in Westminster. Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson, said: “We always knew that Conservative ministers in the Home Office were cruel, but it turns out they are spineless, too. Yet again, their policies have let vulnerable survivors down. It’s disgraceful that the Conservatives have tried to evade scrutiny and purposely hide this from the public. James Cleverly has serious questions to answer about how this happened and why parliament has been left in the dark.”
The issue arose after a landmark high court ruling in November 2021, which found that victims of trafficking who were waiting for an asylum decision should be given temporary permission to stay in the UK and granted some associated rights. A memo from a Home Office official soon after said that complying with the ruling would mean “the individual will have access to mainstream benefits”.
In the new court ruling last week, the Home Office was accused of failing to deal with these cases, meaning trafficking victims could not claim benefits or work freely. The court found that the department had effectively kept a secret policy of putting decisions in such cases on “hold”. That approach appears to have ended with new guidance in March 2023. The case was brought on behalf of an Albanian national who had reached the UK after being kidnapped in Albania and forced to sell drugs.
Alison Pickup, the director of Asylum Aid, whose rigorous investigations were praised by the judge and led to the uncovering of the policy, said: “While we are pleased that the high court has found in our client’s favour, it is shocking that yet again the Home Office has been found to have operated a secret, unpublished policy, and that this time the victims were recognised survivors of trafficking.
“The deliberate withholding of decisions not only left vulnerable people like our client in limbo, but also sought to prevent anyone from finding out about the unpublished policy, and therefore being able to challenge it. It is appalling that this happened to those who are most in need of stability, security, and dignity while they waited for the outcome of their protection claim.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We note the findings of this judgment and will consider its implications. The pause in decision-making for certain applications for Modern Slavery Discretionary Leave is no longer in place and was replaced on 30 January 2023.”