‘90 Indians face slavery in UK’

As many as 90 Indian citizens were referred to Britain’s authorities dealing with modern slavery during 2016, a major audit report criticising the Theresa May government’s much-publicised campaign on the issue revealed on Tuesday.

Indian citizens accompany their employers using the ‘domestic workers’ visa, but often end up in abusive situations and are paid poor wages.

Being unable to change employer after arriving here, some are caught up in other categories of modern slavery.

The report by the National Audit Office (NAO) lists India among the top eight countries whose citizens are in such situation in the United Kingdom.

Campaign groups believe Indians are among a large number of foreign nationals facing such situations. In 2014, the Home Office estimated that there were between 10,000 and 13,000 potential victims of modern slavery in the UK in 2013.

The NAO report titled ‘Reducing Modern Slavery’ concluded that until the May government was able to establish effective oversight of the modern slavery system as a whole, it will not be able to significantly reduce its prevalence.

As Home secretary and now as prime minister, May had focussed on abolishing modern slavery, which encompasses slavery, servitude, sexual exploitation, forced and compulsory labour, and human trafficking. The scale of Indians caught in modern slavery in the UK has often been highlighted by campaign groups such as Human Rights Watch, Kalayaan and Southall Black Sisters.