During a debate on the Homelessness Reduction Bill in the House of Lords today Baroness Butler-Sloss highlighted the plight of victims of trafficking who end up on the streets at the end of the 45 day period of support in a safe house through the National Referral Mechanism. She told peers:

“I will draw the attention of the House to two vulnerable groups of people about whom nothing has been said so far this morning. They urgently need priority housing. […]

“The first group consists of overseas trafficked victims who come to this country and go through the national referral mechanism. They have 45 days plus of accommodation organised by the Salvation Army. They are looked after during that period. If they do not have conclusive grounds, they are rejected and after two days: after 48 hours they have to leave the secure accommodation. If they are found by the national referral mechanism to be conclusively victims of trafficking in this county, they have to leave after two weeks and absolutely nothing is done for them unless one or other of the charities comes in to help them. […]

“They have no status and no rights, and many of them go on the streets.”

Baroness Butler-Sloss highlighted the risks of these people being re- trafficked because they are so vulnerable on the streets.

She also emphasised that risk of exploitation facing homeless people is not limited to former victims or people from other countries, rather there is clear evidence of exploiters targeting homeless people including British nationals, saying:

“I do not know how many noble Lords know—I only learned recently—that soup kitchens are good places for traffickers to target those whom they wish to make slaves. […]

“We have homeless English people on the streets who are being targeted and find themselves becoming victims both in this country and abroad.”

The noble Baroness called for victims of trafficking, and people especially vulnerable to trafficking to be given priority housing and for local authorities to ensure they recognise and treate these groups as people particularly at risk.

CARE welcomes the noble Baroness’s vital intervention to raise concerns about victims of trafficking and the risks of exploitation facing a group of people who are some of our society’s most vulnerable. We hope that the Government, local authorities and all those taking action to support homeless people will be mindful of the risks of trafficking and take steps to ensure, in particular, that victims leaving the NRM have immediate access to secure housing and support.