As specialist organisations supporting Black, minoritised and migrant women affected by violence against women and girls (VAWG), trafficking and modern slavery we strongly oppose the UK Government’s Immigration White Paper. Rather than protecting victims and survivors, this paper proposes sweeping reforms that will intensify the harm and exploitation faced by migrant women. It undermines the UK’s stated commitment to halving VAWG within a decade and threatens survivors’ safety, stability and access to justice by entrenching existing inequalities and dismantling the limited support currently available.
The government’s rhetoric increasingly frames immigration as the root cause of social and economic deterioration, deflecting attention from structural inequalities and decades of austerity that have impacted our society. This is not only misleading but extremely dangerous. It fuels the normalisation of hostility and violence towards migrants and puts Black, minoritised and migrant victim/survivors at further risk.
The white paper also expands the use of automatic deportation for so-called “Foreign National Offenders”, ignoring the reality that many women with convictions have been criminalised for offences committed under coercion or as a direct result of their exploitation. Accelerated removals will deny survivors the time and space needed to access justice or rebuild their lives. This is a violation of international human rights obligations and undermines the aims of the Women’s Justice Board and the UK’s broader VAWG strategies.
We are calling for an immigration system rooted in human rights which supports all survivors of abuse and persecution, regardless of their immigration status.
You can read the full statement our analysis of the Immigration White Paper here: