In a significant development in U.K. immigration policy, the debate over the Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, recently renamed the Safety of Rwanda Bill, has intensified. Central to this controversy is the treatment of victims of modern slavery, with the legislative outcome heavily impacting their rights and safety. Legislative standoff After a prolonged standoff between the unelected House of Lords and the elected House of Commons, expectations were set for the Safety of Rwanda Bill to pass on Wednesday. However, the Lords pushed for amendments, leading to another anticipated vote next w ..read more

Becky Webster, a former NHS worker turned full-time sex worker in the U.K., faced another financial barrier when Barclays Bank froze her account, leaving her unable to access her son’s state benefit payment for over a week. This incident marked the 15th time she had been denied a bank account or had one shut down due to her occupation in the sex industry, reports the Financial Times. In response, Webster launched a petition urging MPs to ensure that individuals working in the sex industry have access to banking services, garnering over 11,000 signatures. “I’ve applied for a bank account, a bu ..read more

In April 2022, Freedom United celebrated as the U.K. caved to our pressure, passing the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill, better protecting children from forced marriage. Our lead campaigner on this initiative, Payzee Mahmod, is a survivor advocate who sat down with Metro UK to share her experience and why raising the minimum marriage age was so important. “Every day I woke up wishing my life was different.” Payzee grew up in a conservative Kurdish family in South London. When she was forced to marry a 30-year-old man at age 16, getting married at her age was still legal with ..read more

Rohingyas living in the Rakhine State of Myanmar are being forcibly conscripted into the ruling military junta’s army according to the BBC – an army that not only doesn’t recognize their right to live in Myanmar, but has also committed what the UN called “textbook ethnic cleansing” against Rohingyas nearly seven years ago. Faced with heavy losses, the embattled junta is using forced military service to fill its ranks in its ongoing civil war. Forced to fight for a regime that wants them dead In 2012, headlines were filled with accounts of the tens of thousands of Rohingyas who were being drive ..read more

Seeking asylum in the U.S. at the Mexico/Texas border has been a risky proposition for years. But aid workers, asylum attorneys, and service providers interviewed by the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) say, in recent months, there has been a huge increase in kidnappings for ransom and modern slavery for migrants at the border. This increase is being attributed to the new U.S. immigration app CBP One coupled with rampant criminality in the main location migrants are channeled to. Grabbed out of tents and exploited for ransom Most migrants and asylum seekers coming from Mexico are chan ..read more

The tragic stories of the overwhelming deaths at European borders and the lack of action surrounding them characterize a troubling far-right ideology of discriminatory anti-migrant measures spreading across the E.U. After nearly a decade of deliberation, the European Parliament recently passed a sweeping overhaul of the European Union’s asylum and migration rules with what is known as the “Migration Pact.” This landmark decision addresses member states’ responsibilities towards migrants and asylum seekers and will come into force in two years’ time. According to Al Jazeera, prominent E.U. figu ..read more

A traditional marriage ceremony of a 12-year-old girl to a 63-year-old priest in Accra, Ghana has sparked outrage across the country and around the world. The BBC reports that the priest, Nuumo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII, married her in a customary ceremony held on Saturday. Controversial ceremony In photos and videos shared online, dozens of community members can be seen attending the ceremony. During the ceremony, it was heard that women told the girl to “dress teasingly for her husband.” While community leaders claimed that the ceremony was purely tradition and custom, hearing the women ad ..read more

In Nepal, there is a village that is nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, officially called Hokse, but commonly known as “Kidney Valley.” At least one person in every household in this village has had their kidney illegally harvested and sold. Motivated by desperation and poverty, many who bear scars share their stories and reveal a larger issue of exploitation and vulnerability that is pervasive in “Kidney Valley.” Desperate measures The prevalence of organ trafficking in “Kidney Valley” is directly correlated to the degree of poverty in the village. Brokers, preying on economic hardshi ..read more

As the United Kingdom prepares to embark on an ambitious expansion of its solar energy infrastructure called the Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI), advocates and senior officials are concerned about the U.K.’s heavy reliance on solar companies implicated in Uyghur forced labor. “One of the most dirty and complicit industries” The Telegraph reports that Alicia Kearns, chair of the foreign affairs select committee, has a stark warning about the potential consequences if the U.K. fails to enact tough new laws to address this looming crisis. “Solar is one of the most dirty and complicit industri ..read more

In a poor north-eastern state in Brazil workers harvest carnauba wax from palm trees to earn a meagre living. As reported by the BBC, big businesses like L’Oreal, who buy the wax once processed, are currently turning a blind eye to the slavery-like conditions of these workers. And despite processing plants having signed an agreement to improve supply chains and end the informality of the carnauba harvesting sector, labor inspectors in Brazil say nothing has changed for workers. From candy, to pills to cosmetics, slavery is on the list of ingredients Carnauba wax is a product that has been used ..read more