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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · 5d

3 men convicted for cannabis production in February, "while the operation did not amount to "modern slavery", a guard was placed outside the premises while the trio worked"

General Indicators of modern slavery: "Show signs that their movements are being controlled" "Feel that they cannot leave"

Reposted by Patrick Burland

Free Movement @freemovement.bsky.social · 10d

Latest post from us: Briefing: is the modern slavery identification system in the UK being misused? | Sonia Lenegan

Briefing: is the modern slavery identification system in the UK being misused? - Free Movement

The Home Secretary has claimed (as have many of the last several of them) that the modern slavery identification process is "being misused" and has used this

freemovement.org.uk

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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · 16d

The review of the name 'Single Competent Authority' has nearly taken 4 years.

Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · 20d

Update to MSA stat guidance prevents requests of reconsideration requests "where the SSHD intends to remove that individual to a country that is a signatory to the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (ECAT) and European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)"

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · 21d

Changes to MSA Statutory Guidance significantly reducing requirements for decision makers to obtain information to make CG decisions have been followed by huge numbers of refusals due to insufficient information. Such decisions have risen in 2025 compared to 2024 amid efforts to reduce the backlog.

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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · 21d

Three-quarters of negative Conclusive Grounds decisions in the first half of 2025 were due to insufficient information. Only 7% were refused on credibility grounds.
Refusals due to insufficient information increased 3000% between 2022 and 2024. Whereas refusals on credibility grounds fell 300%.

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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · Aug 11

From last week "Two men were caught helping to operate a “slavery” cannabis plant worth over half a million pounds in Carmarthenshire."
"When officers asked . . . whether what had happened to him was slavery he responded: “Maybe slavery, maybe work."
24 month custodial sentence.

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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · Aug 7

There were a record high 5,690 NRM referrals between April-June 2025.
The 1,772 reports in the quarter under the Duty to Notify of adults who did not consent to enter the NRM was the second highest.
11,645 people are waiting for a Conclusive Grounds decision.
www.gov.uk/government/s...

Modern slavery: National Referral Mechanism and Duty to Notify statistics UK, quarter 2 2025 - April to June

www.gov.uk

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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · Jul 16

The call for evidence on the identification of victims of modern slavery has been published assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687771...

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · Jul 16

Updates to section on Prioritisation of Conclusive Grounds cases in the MSA statutory guidance. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687656...

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · Jul 14

16 yr old & two 17 yr old boys from London arrested in Hertfordshire on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class A and B drugs. The DI said, "The violence and exploitation often associated with drug dealing causes untold harm to our communities and can take advantage of vulnerable people"

Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · Jul 9

Some of the longest custodial sentences for modern slavery. www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/six...

Six people jailed for modern slavery and drugs crimes | The Crown Prosecution Service

www.cps.gov.uk

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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · Jul 3

Smuggling???

Suspected people smuggling gang taken down in nationwide strikes

Seven members of a suspected organised crime group believed to have made millions have been arrested in West Yorkshire and Essex.

www.gov.uk

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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · Jul 1

"Individuals travelling to the UK illegally are sold a lie by smuggling gangs that they will be able to live and work freely in the UK, when in reality they often end up facing squalid living conditions, minimal pay and inhumane working hours." www.gov.uk/government/n...
Smuggling or trafficking?

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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · Jul 1

"This issue is getting worse due to climate change, which is making heatwaves both more frequent and more intense. And they will become more common and severe for at least the next 25 years until the world reaches net zero emissions of greenhouse gases."🙃 www.standard.co.uk/comment/lond...

London can't cope with the heat. Here's why

Londoners are not imagining things when they complain of suffering more than most during heatwaves. The capital really does experience higher temperatures than many other areas of the country.

www.standard.co.uk

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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · Jun 13

Judge at Norwich Crown Court this week sentencing two cannabis gardeners to six months said it was a "sad and familiar story of young men becoming ensnared by sophisticated criminal gangs" who are "forced" to pay off their debt illegally.

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Reposted by Patrick Burland

Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC) @modernslaverypec.bsky.social · Jun 11

NEW RESEARCH! Identifying child criminal exploitation in Northern Ireland.

Children in Northern Ireland exploited in criminal activities are not being formally identified as victims of modern slavery and human trafficking – despite indications they may meet the criteria.
🧵

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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · Jun 4

It's like a day 1 case study on the Palermo Protocol in a training exercise on understanding the differences between terms like "human trafficking" and "smuggling"

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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · Jun 4

"Officers acted on intelligence that suggested the lead people smuggler was exploiting the individuals he lured here under false pretences, forcing them to do unpaid work." www.gov.uk/government/n...
That sentence describes trafficking?
ACT (movement) + MEANS (deception) + PURPOSE (forced labour)

Suspected people-smuggling gang arrested in nationwide crackdown

Six people have been arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal entry of hundreds of migrants in dawn strikes by Immigration Enforcement across the UK

www.gov.uk

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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · May 28

A Recorder at Crown Court sentencing a Vietnamese man to 6 months for cannabis production "you . . arrived in this country almost certainly illegally but alone and vulnerable. I have no doubt you were living rough, with no stable address and eventually you were exploited by those promising you work"

Reposted by Patrick Burland

Anti-Trafficking Review @atrjournal.bsky.social · May 28

#CallForPapers: This issue will document existing & emerging aspects of domestic/care work & intimate #labour, their intersections with #gender & #migration, and the policies and practices that enable or prevent the exploitation of care workers. See antitraffickingreview.org/index.php/at...

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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · May 22

Only 10% of the public expected a fall in net migration. www.britishfuture.org/surprise-hal...

'Surprise' halving of net migration offers Starmer an opportunity - British Future

Voters will be surprised by the halving of net migration, offering PM Keir Starmer an opportunity to take a more pragmatic approach

www.britishfuture.org

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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · May 20

The 25 year sentence was five times longer than the average custodial sentence for an offence under the Modern Slavery between July 2023-June 2024 www.modernslaverypec.org/resources/pr...

Barriers to prosecutions and convictions under the Modern Slavery Act…

We strive for a world where people are protected from modern slavery by effective, evidence-based policies.

www.modernslaverypec.org

Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · May 20

Judge Hiddleston said Ebid had “significant managerial role within an organised crime group” and his “primary motivation was to make money out of human trafficking”
CPS press release says he pled guilty for conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration to a member state.
www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/peo...

People smuggler jailed for role in £12.3m operation | The Crown Prosecution Service

www.cps.gov.uk

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Patrick Burland @patrickburland.bsky.social · May 20

Organisations have written about the successes and shortcomings in the 10 yrs since the Modern Slavery Act and what the UK government should do in the future but missed self-reflection about their own successes and shortcomings in the events of that decade.
I would buy a ticket for a BTS party.

Beyond Slavery @beyondslavery.bsky.social · May 19

Ten years ago, we decided to place trafficking at the centre of our analysis. We made the wrong decision. 🧵

✍️ @joelquirk.bsky.social @drellac.bsky.social & Cameron Thibos

bit.ly/3ZmPRBY

Ten years on, have we moved Beyond Trafficking and Slavery?

We started BTS in 2014 to help everyone better understand the root causes of exploitation. Did we succeed?

www.opendemocracy.net

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