Britain's Skilled Worker visa route used by overseas professionals to seek employment in the country leaves migrants vulnerable to exploitation by some sponsors, a parliamentary panel warned on Friday.
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC), responsible for scrutinising government spending, notes that changes to the visa route, popular with Indian workers over the years, by the Home Office failed to properly consider the risks of non-compliance with rules and exploitation of migrant workers.
In its 'Immigration: Skilled worker visas' report tabled this week, PAC said the route being based on a sponsorship model - where a migrant's right to remain in the UK is entirely dependent on their employer - makes migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation.
"There is evidence that applicants have been charged extortionate fees for Skilled Worker visas in their home countries, before they come to the United Kingdom," reads the PAC analysis.
"The Skilled Worker visa system is based on a sponsorship model where a migrant's right to remain in the United Kingdom is dependent on their employer. This reliance makes migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation, and there is widespread evidence of workers suffering debt bondage, working excessive hours and exploitative conditions," it reports.
The issue of exploitation has been particularly stark among foreign care workers, many of whom accessed these visas when the Skilled Worker route was expanded in response to the COVID pandemic in 2022.
PAC concludes that sufficient action was not taken to prevent exploitation in applicants' home countries and identify bogus agents overseas who charge applicants unnecessary fees or claim to be able to find them work in the UK.
"Government moved swiftly to open up the visa system to help the social care system cope during the pandemic... Our report finds that this speed came at a painfully high cost - to the safety of workers from the depredations of labour market abuses, and the integrity of the system from people not following the rules," said PAC Chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown.
"There has long been mounting evidence of serious issues with the system, laid bare once again in our inquiry. And yet basic information, such as how many people on Skilled Worker visas have been modern slavery victims, and whether people leave the UK after their visas expire, seems to still not have been gathered by the government," he said.
The Opposition Conservative MP admitted that further changes were underway with the recent announcement by the Labour government of an end to the overseas recruitment of care workers.
However, without effective cross-government working, there is a risk that these changes will exacerbate challenges for the care sector, the committee warns.
Adis Sehic, Policy Manager at Work Rights Centre, said the report "unequivocally" confirms their concerns of widespread evidence of abuse affecting tens of thousands of workers, including at least 39,000 migrant care workers - including many Indians.
"This report is yet more damning evidence that the principle of sponsorship, which ties migrant workers in the UK to their employer, is inherently unsafe for workers and, in our view, breaches their human rights." he said
Structural reform of the sponsorship system must urgently be undertaken if this government is to meaningfully uphold its commitments relating to employment and human rights," Sehic added.
The PAC report also flags that the Home Office has not analysed exit checks since the visa route was introduced post-Brexit and does not know what proportion of people return to their home country after their visa has expired, and how many may be working illegally in the UK.
"The PAC is calling on government to fully assess how it tackles non-compliance, including what measures are in place or will be put in place to record when people leave the country," it adds.
The UK Home Office said it would respond formally to PAC's recommendations in due course but pointed to the fact that it was published in advance of the government's recent 'Immigration White Paper'.
"We have rolled up our sleeves to fix the broken immigration system, suspending the highest total of skilled worker sponsor licenses since records began in 2012, raising the Skilled Worker threshold back to degree level and ending overseas recruitment to the care sector," a Home Office spokesperson said.
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC), responsible for scrutinising government spending, notes that changes to the visa route, popular with Indian workers over the years, by the Home Office failed to properly consider the risks of non-compliance with rules and exploitation of migrant workers.
In its 'Immigration: Skilled worker visas' report tabled this week, PAC said the route being based on a sponsorship model - where a migrant's right to remain in the UK is entirely dependent on their employer - makes migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation.
"There is evidence that applicants have been charged extortionate fees for Skilled Worker visas in their home countries, before they come to the United Kingdom," reads the PAC analysis.
"The Skilled Worker visa system is based on a sponsorship model where a migrant's right to remain in the United Kingdom is dependent on their employer. This reliance makes migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation, and there is widespread evidence of workers suffering debt bondage, working excessive hours and exploitative conditions," it reports.
The issue of exploitation has been particularly stark among foreign care workers, many of whom accessed these visas when the Skilled Worker route was expanded in response to the COVID pandemic in 2022.
PAC concludes that sufficient action was not taken to prevent exploitation in applicants' home countries and identify bogus agents overseas who charge applicants unnecessary fees or claim to be able to find them work in the UK.
"Government moved swiftly to open up the visa system to help the social care system cope during the pandemic... Our report finds that this speed came at a painfully high cost - to the safety of workers from the depredations of labour market abuses, and the integrity of the system from people not following the rules," said PAC Chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown.
"There has long been mounting evidence of serious issues with the system, laid bare once again in our inquiry. And yet basic information, such as how many people on Skilled Worker visas have been modern slavery victims, and whether people leave the UK after their visas expire, seems to still not have been gathered by the government," he said.
The Opposition Conservative MP admitted that further changes were underway with the recent announcement by the Labour government of an end to the overseas recruitment of care workers.
However, without effective cross-government working, there is a risk that these changes will exacerbate challenges for the care sector, the committee warns.
Adis Sehic, Policy Manager at Work Rights Centre, said the report "unequivocally" confirms their concerns of widespread evidence of abuse affecting tens of thousands of workers, including at least 39,000 migrant care workers - including many Indians.
"This report is yet more damning evidence that the principle of sponsorship, which ties migrant workers in the UK to their employer, is inherently unsafe for workers and, in our view, breaches their human rights." he said
Structural reform of the sponsorship system must urgently be undertaken if this government is to meaningfully uphold its commitments relating to employment and human rights," Sehic added.
The PAC report also flags that the Home Office has not analysed exit checks since the visa route was introduced post-Brexit and does not know what proportion of people return to their home country after their visa has expired, and how many may be working illegally in the UK.
"The PAC is calling on government to fully assess how it tackles non-compliance, including what measures are in place or will be put in place to record when people leave the country," it adds.
The UK Home Office said it would respond formally to PAC's recommendations in due course but pointed to the fact that it was published in advance of the government's recent 'Immigration White Paper'.
"We have rolled up our sleeves to fix the broken immigration system, suspending the highest total of skilled worker sponsor licenses since records began in 2012, raising the Skilled Worker threshold back to degree level and ending overseas recruitment to the care sector," a Home Office spokesperson said.
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