New Home Office data shows UK trafficking referrals rise to the highest annual total since the UK’s anti-trafficking system began. That comes even as ministers push a bill that assumes people are abusing the system. The figures cover the year to June 2026. They come from the National Referral Mechanism, the UK’s process for identifying trafficking and slavery victims.
How far did UK trafficking referrals rise this year
There were 25,373 referrals in the year to June 2026. That is up 5% on the year to March, and it is a record for the mechanism. The April-to-June quarter alone saw 6,954 referrals. That is itself a single-quarter record, and it is 16% more than the first three months of the year. UK nationals made up the largest group at 22%, or 5,548 people. Eritrean nationals followed at 13%, then Somali nationals at 11%. Among UK nationals referred, 74% were children, according to analysis by Free Movement of the Home Office’s own statistics.
More than half of all referrals, 54%, reported exploitation that happened exclusively overseas. That too is a record. Libya, Sudan and Somalia were the most commonly reported countries. Labour exploitation was the single largest category, at 38% of referrals. The Fair Work Agency showed up as a first responder in the data for the first time.
Where the referrals are coming from
Government agencies, not charities, generated most of the referrals. Official channels, including UK Visas and Immigration, accounted for 58% of the total. UK Visas and Immigration alone referred 5,767 cases. Non-governmental organizations made up only 4%. Separately, freedom of information data cited in the same analysis found something notable: the system received only 645 referrals from skilled worker visa holders between January 2022 and August 2025, a small slice of the overall total.
The “misuse” ministers say they are targeting
Despite the rising referral numbers, the explanatory notes to the Immigration and Asylum Bill tell a different story. They argue the referral mechanism is “susceptible to misuse, in particular to delay or prevent immigration removal action.” The government’s own disqualification data pushes back against that framing. Only 144 disqualification requests were made in the latest year, down from 244 the year before. Officials have disqualified just 19 people for bad faith since January 2023. That works out to roughly one in every 3,800 referrals.
The bill now at committee stage would introduce a new credibility test. Under it, a delay in making a trafficking claim could count against the person claiming it. The bill would also make disqualification mandatory in some cases. It would widen the legal definition of bad faith, and remove the existing requirement to grant victims temporary permission to stay while they recover. According to the anti-trafficking group ATLEU, cited in the same reporting, 96% of victim-of-trafficking leave grants currently exist specifically to support recovery.
A backlog that stopped shrinking
The number of cases waiting for a conclusive-grounds decision rose 23% to 5,656 at the end of June. That was the first increase since December 2022. It climbed further still, to 5,948 by the end of August. The median wait for a decision rose from 50 days to 84 days over the same stretch, then eased back to 69 days by late August. The Home Office blames the slowdown on three factors: it moved staff to clear an earlier backlog, it changed its IT system, and new referrals surged. Officials have pledged to clear the remaining backlog by December 2026. That backlog peaked at 31,022 cases at the end of 2022. This sits alongside wider immigration changes already moving through Parliament; see our coverage of five UK visa rule changes that took effect on October 8.
What happens next for the bill
The Immigration and Asylum Bill remains at committee stage. Lawmakers can still amend the credibility-test and disqualification provisions before a final vote. Campaigners are likely to keep pointing to the low bad-faith disqualification numbers. They will argue the stricter rules target a problem that barely exists in the data. Separately, a policy that took effect October 8, 2026 already lets skilled worker visa holders with a positive conclusive-grounds decision work for any employer, rather than just their original sponsor. That relief depends on clearing an NRM process the bill would tighten.
Common questions about the UK trafficking referrals rise
How many people were referred to the UK’s trafficking system this year?
The system recorded 25,373 referrals in the year to June 2026. That is the highest annual total since the National Referral Mechanism began, according to Home Office data analyzed by Free Movement.
What does the government mean by ‘misuse’ of the system?
Explanatory notes to the Immigration and Asylum Bill describe the mechanism as open to misuse, used to delay or block immigration removals. Official disqualification figures show very few confirmed bad-faith cases.
How many people have actually been disqualified for bad-faith claims?
Officials have disqualified only 19 people on bad-faith grounds since January 2023, out of tens of thousands of referrals.
Is the decision backlog getting better or worse?
It had been shrinking for years but rose 23% in the April-to-June 2026 quarter, the first increase since December 2022. The median wait time then improved slightly by the end of August.
What would the new Immigration and Asylum Bill change?
It would add a credibility test tied to delay in claiming, make disqualification mandatory in some cases, widen the definition of bad faith, and remove the automatic right to recovery-focused temporary permission to stay.
