In this episode, we speak with Lauren Starkey, a campaigner and independent social worker who works with Albanian victims of human trafficking. 

 

Lauren is going to tell us how the British government decided that Albanian men shouldn't be granted asylum in the UK, even if they are victims of human trafficking. 

 

She tells us how this approach punishes victims of human trafficking, forces them to live in destitution, and threatens to send them back to an environment they were trafficked from. 

 

And we also have an addendum at the end of the episode, in which we talk about Labour's reported plans to end asylum seekers to Albania. 

 

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---Show Notes---

 

You can follow Lauren Starkey on Twitter here: @LaurenHStarkey

 

Lauren mentions the defunct (in the UK) charity Love 146. You can check out their US website here: https://love146.org/

 

For more on the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), see here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/human-trafficking-victims-referral-and-assessment-forms/guidance-on-the-national-referral-mechanism-for-potential-adult-victims-of-modern-slavery-england-and-wales 

 

Ben mentions a journalist trying to interview people as they cross the Channel. You can watch that here: bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-53722861

 

For more on the UK, see episodes 61, 57, 49, 44, 42, 40, 39, 38, 32, 25, 21, 17 and 11 of The Civil Fleet Podcast.

 

 

Check out Amnesty International's assessment on the Nationality and Borders' Act 2022, see here: amnesty.org.uk/nationality-borders-bill-truth-behind-claims 

 

See here for more on the UK government's legal battle with former Albanian president Berisha: reuters.com/world/europe/albanias-former-pm-berisha-loses-appeal-against-ban-uk-2024-06-17/

 

Read this Guardian report on the children who went missing from Britain's migrant hotels: theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/jul/17/children-missing-from-home-office-hotels-likely-to-have-been-trafficked-report-finds 

 

You can read about the British PM visit Italy's far-right PM Giorgia Meloni here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/starmer-italy-asylum-offhore-meloni-b2613670.html 

 

For more on Israel's Rwanda scheme, see here: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/03/israel-deportation-of-african-asylum-seekers-is-a-cruel-and-misguided-abandonment-of-responsibility