The Joy of Justice

Something AMAZING was announced on Tuesday – and as God’s people we should be ecstatic about it!

What was it? Oh, it was a landmark ruling by the High Court that thousands of trafficking survivors in the UK should be granted leave to remain en masse. You can read more about the ruling here. However, suffice to say that this is HUGELY significant because (appallingly) under current law a confirmed case of human trafficking or slavery doesn’t automatically qualify a victim to be able to remain in the UK. Rather, the process of seeking asylum is handled separately and it can take months, or even years, for a decision to be made. This has left thousands of men and women (proven to have suffered horrendous trauma) in a state of cruel limbo – unable to work, study or move forwards with their lives whilst daily having to manage the constant fear of deportation and potential re-trafficking.

I saw this played out first hand in the life of a young Vietnamese man I had befriended in Cardiff. I remember going with his support worker to break the good news that his trafficking claim had been upheld and he was now believed to be a victim of this awful crime. “This will really help your asylum claim” his support worker enthused.

Several months later I sat with him in his solicitors office as she told him “Your asylum claim has been declined and, because we believe that you have a less than 50% chance of your appeal being successful, we are no longer in a position to support you.” On that day a victim of human trafficking lost his right to stay in the UK and also his legal representation. I recall his tears in my car as I drove him home. I promised him that I would pray and work as hard as I could to get him a new solicitor. A better one!

By God’s grace I found an incredible lady who believed his story, took his case and lodged a great appeal against the Home Office’s initial decision. I sat with him through every single session with his new solicitor as he had to relive the horrors of his trafficking hell, and was again with him at the court hearing. He demonstrated extraordinary courage!

I still remember the day we were sat in a cafe when he got the call from his solicitor telling him that the appeal had been successful. He literally broke down and wept on my shoulder (our friend took a photo of the moment, you can see it below!) It was sheer joy but also utter relief. And it came over a year after he’d been given his conclusive grounds trafficking decision.

That’s why I’m SO overjoyed by this week’s ruling. It is compassionate and it is JUST! Therefore as God’s people (especially those who have been praying for and pursuing justice) we should REJOICE when we see it done:

“When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous”

– Proverbs 21:15

Closing thought: the Home Office have the right appeal this ruling, though if they wish to do so they will have to lodge their appeal by 19th October. This would mean overturning a ruling that offers hope to victims of human trafficking during the week leading up to anti-slavery day (October 18th)! The optics would be terrible for the government…but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t pray that the decision would stand!