From Conflict to Modern Slavery

Abstract

Using first-hand accounts from people with lived experience, this work draws comparisons between those who fled conflict to the UK in relative safety, and those who fled but experienced modern slavery. With a broad definition of conflict as an organising concept to encourage understandings that go beyond war, these insights lead to conclusions about the vulnerabilities caused by conflict that can encourage situations of modern slavery. Consideration is given to the ways in which conflict influences how a person’s agency interacts with overarching structures, finding that conflict limits people’s agency and the legitimate options available to them. It is this restriction of agency in the face of inherently risky options, coupled with a breakdown in support networks, that puts individuals at most risk of modern slavery. Reflecting also on the lives of individuals after they have fled conflict and arrived in the UK, insights are drawn about how restrictive policies in the UK generate the same vulnerabilities as conflict and therefore serve to increase the risk of modern slavery. The strength of this title lies in its empirical focus on a comparison between first-hand accounts. It offers personal insights into the experiences of asylum seekers, refugees, victims of modern slavery, and those who work with them in the UK, situating these within current understandings in order to identify specific aspects of people’s journeys out of conflict that can make them vulnerable to modern slavery.