Court of appeal says ransom kidnapping counts as trafficking exploitation

Judges on the court of appeal have rejected the Home Office's position that being abducted and held for ransom does not count as exploitation of trafficking victims. The ruling means claims from people kidnapped for ransom, which officials had previously shut out of the trafficking framework, must now be properly considered. That could unlock the support and recovery package trafficking victims are entitled to.

At the centre of the case is a 25-year-old Syrian man who cannot be named. He fled forced military conscription in July 2021, knowing refusal to fight would likely mean prison and torture, and set out hoping to reach the UK. He reached Libya, where armed men abducted him and other Syrians and held them for a month between August and September 2021.

According to The Guardian, his captors seized his money and phone and drove the group through the desert for 24 hours with gunshots ringing out, no food and barely any water. They were told release would only come once their families paid several thousand dollars. He was bound and beaten repeatedly on his hands and feet, and was forced to call home to beg for the ransom while his kidnappers struck him so his family could hear the screams. He feared that even after payment he might not walk free, or that his organs would be taken.

His family paid, and he was released. He crossed the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy by boat, then made it from France to the UK on 16 May 2022 and claimed asylum. The Home Office turned down his trafficking claim, arguing that because his kidnappers had not forced him into labour, his ordeal did not meet the definition of exploitation. He fought that decision in the high court and won; home secretary Shabana Mahmood appealed, and the court of appeal has now dismissed that appeal.

The judgment found that the secretary of state erred by not weighing whether kidnapping amounted to exploitation. The fallout could stretch well beyond future arrivals: people whose trafficking claims were previously refused after being held for ransom in Libya can now seek a fresh referral into the national referral mechanism and a new decision on whether there are reasonable grounds to treat them as victims.

Jeremy Bloom, a consultant solicitor at Duncan Lewis who represented the Syrian man, welcomed the outcome, calling it a vindication of his client's claim and saying the Home Office had tried to narrow the definition of exploitation. He said he hopes it helps other victims of similarly horrendous treatment gain access to the leave and support they need, including those whose claims were refused. Home Office sources said commenting on legal proceedings would not be appropriate, while a spokesperson said the department is simplifying and strengthening protection and immigration routes while maintaining fairness and public confidence.