Recommendation 36

It is, in our view, wholly inappropriate to categorise victims as a threat to public order by the mere fact that they arrived in the UK through an irregular route, particularly given the fact that victims are controlled by their traffickers. Under the NABA 2022, these provisions are already disapplied to certain potential victims of torture (VOTs), on grounds of public order, such as persons convicted of terrorist offences and foreign national offenders. There is clearly no justification for extending the disqualification to all VOTs and victims of slavery (VOSs) who enter or arrive in the UK irregularly, without coming directly to the UK, and without permission to be here.