THE Home Office’s decision to link modern slavery with immigration has made it easier for exploitation to thrive, a charity warned today.

Victims of human trafficking, servitude or forced or compulsory labour are now seen as a threat and face a “culture of disbelief” and the “same increasingly hostile policy as migrants,” Unseen said.

Last September, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was accused by the anti-slavery watchdog of putting lives at risk when she vowed to “fight to end vexatious, last-minute claims” under the Modern Slavery Act.

She announced an urgent review to assess whether the legislation was open to abuse, accusing migrants of making a “mockery of our laws and this country’s generosity.”

In November, the government published a policy paper pledging introduce new legislation on modern slavery, “clarifying our obligations and enabling us to address potential misuse while maintaining essential protections.”

Unseen criticised as “unrealistic” higher thresholds of evidence that victims must present to support their claim and said there should be a guaranteed right of appeal to ensure that survivors can challenge failed claims “to prevent wrongful exclusion from protection.”

In a briefing paper published today, the charity said that the laws had “exacerbated the conditions that allow modern slavery and criminality to thrive in the UK,” adding that “authorities will only be able to disrupt human trafficking once it is decoupled from immigration policy and addressed as an economic crime with devastating human rights violations.”

Unseen also raised concerns that the government has been “doubling down on this narrative that modern slavery support systems are being abused.”

Modern slavery is estimated to cost £60 billion and affect 130,000 people each year in Britain. It also “fuels other serious offences including knife crime, violence against women and girls and drug crimes,” said Unseen.

The Home Office said: “We are committed to ensuring all victims, regardless of nationality or residency status, are quickly identified and can access the necessary support through the national referral mechanism. We are also determined to pursue and tackle any abuse of the system.

“This government took quick decisions to repeal legislation, such as the entirely of the Safety of Rwanda Act and certain clauses in the Illegal Migration Act, introduced under the previous government — retaining protections for victims of modern slavery.”