The Immigration White Paper

In May this year, the UK Government released its Immigration White Paper, outlining a series of proposed changes to immigration policy. These proposals have created widespread uncertainty and fear among migrant communities — feelings that persist today, as many details remain undecided.

The direction taken by the government is deeply concerning. Rather than dismantling the hostile environment created under previous Conservative governments, it seeks to entrench and expand it — to the detriment of society as a whole.

The proposed measures are, and will continue to be, particularly harmful to migrant women — especially those who are survivors of gender-based violence, trafficking, modern slavery, and exploitative or unsafe working conditions.

LAWRS, together with partner organisations Southall Black Sisters, Hibiscus and EVAW, joined by 100+ organisations, are fighting these cruel policies. We have released a response outlining how they will harm migrant women and concluded with a protest outside of the Home Office on the 15th of October. However, we know that this will be a long fight — one that will require sustained collective action, solidarity across movements, and a continued commitment to centring the voices and leadership of migrant women. 

Why are we so concerned?

Mainstreaming the far-right in immigration policies

The White Paper marks a dangerous and racially discriminatory escalation which scapegoats immigrants, not austerity, for economic and social deprivation. The government is mainstreaming far-right rhetoric, using this to inform reactionary policy-making at a time when violence against immigrants, asylum-seekers and refugees is increasing. 

This is evident not only in the White Paper, but in subsequent statements from the Prime Minister and other members of his cabinet, as well as in the government’s failure to condemn the actions of far-right groups who are targeting migrants and people seeking asylum.

Migrant victim/survivors of domestic abuse 

The government has pledged to halve gender-based violence in 10 years. Yet in its White Paper, it fails to address the vulnerability of migrant women survivors of VAWG. Frontline services such as LAWRS support migrant women whose inability to access mainstream refuges, financial support, stable housing or quality legal advice prevents them from fleeing domestic abuse and rebuilding their lives. Existing protections, such as the Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC) and Domestic Violence Indefinite Leave to Remain (DVILR) are extremely limited, and cover only a limited number of women with insecure immigration status.

Moreover, the risk of statutory services, including the police, sharing information with immigration enforcement is directly weaponised by perpetrators, deterring reporting and access to protection. Individuals who are now in government have previously emphasised the critical need for a firewall between immigration enforcement and the police. Despite this, commitments to remove these barriers have not been followed through, and protections remain unavailable for most migrant victim/survivors. 

Labour market and immigration 

This government continues to devalue what they frame as “low-skilled” roles overwhelmingly held by migrant women in the UK. This includes care work, cleaning and support services, where essential workers already lack fair conditions and robust protections. The decision to scrap care worker visas is particularly alarming and risks collapsing an already fragile sector.

We are alarmed that genuine workforce planning and sectoral investment are being replaced with a reliance on migrant women workers as temporary stopgaps for labour shortages. By restricting their access to long-term stability and settlement, these policies force workers to accept poor conditions and deepen dependency on partners or employers, increasing the risk of abuse and exploitation

We also wholly reject the government’s framing of immigration control as a means to address labour exploitation. This narrative misrepresents the root causes of abuse in the labour market and instead targets the victims/survivors, rather than the exploitative employers who profit from their precarity.

Criminalisation of victim/survivors 

In the UK, most women in prison or under community supervision have experienced abuse or exploitation. For vulnerable migrant survivors, criminality often results from coercion or economic precarity. As expressed above, migrant women also face barriers to report abuse and exploitation, meaning they slip through the cracks before later coming into contact with the criminal justice system. Automatic deportation and accelerated removals will prevent survivors from pursuing meaningful justice and rebuilding their lives.

Urgent priorities for action

The Government faces an urgent choice: to continue bolstering far-right ideology or to take immediate action to protect migrant victims/survivors. We call on the Government to: 

  • Abandon the UK Government’s Immigration White Paper (May 2025), which harms victim/survivors of VAWG, trafficking and modern slavery.
  • Implement safe reporting mechanisms.
  • End the criminalisation of victim/survivors of VAWG, trafficking and modern slavery.
  • Fully repeal the Illegal Migration Act (2023) and the Nationality and Borders Act (2022).
  • Tackle systemic racism and structural inequalities. 
  • Centre and provide ring-fenced funding for by and for organisations.
  • Extend the combined MVDAC-DVILR model to all victim/survivors regardless of immigration status.