Home Office seeks to clear huge backlog of modern slavery cases

The Home Office has recruited 200 staff to clear a backlog of 23,300 modern slavery cases left by the last government, a minister has told the Guardian.

- Rajeev Syal

Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, said the department planned to end prolonged uncertainty and anguish for survivors by finalising the cases within two years.

It follows reports that some trafficked survivors have been waiting for years to be defined as victims of modern slavery.

There are an estimated 130,000 victims of modern slavery in the UK, trapped in sectors including agriculture, prostitution and care. Most have suffered traumatic sexual, physical and economic abuse but face long delays in having their status confirmed through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).

The aim of the NRM is to protect people from further abuse once they are no longer being controlled by their traffickers by providing safe housing, counselling and other support to help them recover from their ordeal.