The U.K. recently implemented new, stricter immigration policies aimed at curbing irregular immigration. However, a new report found the changes are undermining the Modern Slavery Act and harming migrants and survivors. Instead, reports TRT World, thousands of migrants like Xuan, a Vietnamese survivor, are denied vital protections. Horrifyingly, many are then becoming trapped in modern slavery. Tip of the iceberg The U.K. interior ministry reported that in 2024, the number of Vietnamese crossing The Channel on small boats jumped up. With more than 1,000 presumed victims in 2023, they are also among the most exposed to modern slavery. Tragically, according to Anti-Slavery International, those figures represent “the tip of the iceberg”. Xuan (an assumed name) is one such migrant who was captured by police after illegally entering the U.K. On leaving the police station two strangers bundled him into a car. Frighteningly, he was told to follow the two men otherwise they would shoot him. Xuan first found himself forced to unload boxes at a warehouse where he was never paid. After a few weeks, his traffickers took him to a factory where he was locked up alone 24 hours a day. Xuan was forced to care for cannabis plants and threatened with death if the harvest was poor. Xuan said: “The persons that brought me there checked on me almost every day. The house was locked, I was afraid they would beat me to death as I did not fulfil my job…I just wanted to keep myself healthy so I could see my children again.” Sleeping on a mattress on the floor, suffocating from the fumes and humid 36-degree heat from the grow lamps, Xuan decided to attempt escape. He broke a window and fled to a nearby train station. Unsurprisingly, Xuan said he still has trouble sleeping when the memories come back. Meanwhile, his asylum application was rejected last year, he is awaiting an appeal decision.