Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that asylum seekers awaiting a decision on an asylum application are not drawn into modern slavery.

We understand many asylum seekers have experienced challenging circumstances when making their way to the UK and we take our responsibility towards vulnerable asylum seekers seriously, ensuring that staff are trained to identify and support the most vulnerable as they make their way through their asylum journey.

A key objective of the asylum process is to create a secure and positive environment that supports claimants to disclose as much relevant information as possible, including medical conditions, disabilities, or experience of trauma that may make the person vulnerable.

Asylum claimants are directly asked about their physical and mental health throughout the asylum process. If the responses provided, or the claimant’s general demeanour, indicate that they may be a victim of trauma, this information is recorded to ensure appropriate onward routing and management. Depending on the extent of their vulnerability, they may also make a referral to the Asylum Safeguarding Hub.

We work closely with authorities with statutory responsibility for vulnerable asylum seekers, including local authorities and medical practitioners. We make referrals to those agencies where there is a clear need and encourage all asylum seekers to access mainstream healthcare, including mental health provision as appropriate.