<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">The number of modern slavery cases reported within the UK care industry has more than doubled in the past year.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There were 109 potential victims, exploited for personal or financial gain, between January and March - twice as many as the same period in 2022.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">BBC File on 4 obtained the figures from the government-approved anti-slavery helpline, run by charity Unseen.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Investigators trying to protect workers from being exploited say the care industry is now a "top priority".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) - whose role is to protect workers from labour exploitation across the UK - told us it had more than 300 ongoing care sector investigations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Unseen says the rise in calls about the care sector in the past 12 months is because the government has made it easier for overseas social care staff to work in the UK post-Brexit - and fill thousands of job vacancies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As the supply chain gets bigger, there's more chance for exploitation - says the charity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the year to March, the government had issued 102,000 skilled worker, health and care visas to foreign workers - that's up 171% on the previous year. In a statement, it told File on 4 that more than £17.8m had been spent policing modern slavery since 2016.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's very rare to hear from a victim of modern slavery in person, but one woman who came to the UK on a work visa - and was forced to work gruelling hours as a carer - has told us her story.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Still frightened of her former employers, we're calling her Terri to protect her identity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Recruited by an agency in her home country in Africa, Terri was offered work in the UK as a domiciliary carer. The agency told her it would arrange her work visa and transport.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She was interviewed in person, took an English test, and had to provide proof of her work experience. She was promised a job as a care assistant in the UK through a care company. She was told she would earn up to £29,000.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For Terri, who was in an abusive marriage, the job was the perfect opportunity to escape with her three children.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Butterflies were going through me, it was one of the best days of my life," she says.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Terri brought her mother with her to the UK, so she could look after Terri's children. Although Terri would be provided with somewhere to stay through the care company, depending on where she was asked to work, the children and their grandmother went into private rented accommodation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Terri told us she found her work hours gruelling - up to 20 hours a day - and that she often worked seven days a week. The car she had been promised to travel between clients did not materialise, so she had to walk to appointments.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When Terri eventually received her wages from the company two months later, it worked out at less than £2 an hour, which is illegal. Care workers must be paid at least the minimum wage - £10.90 across the UK (£11.95 in London) - for their time at appointments, plus travel time to and from the office.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Terri complained to the care company but it threatened to stop her work and cancel her visa.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She says other carers she got to know also warned her that the firm's owner had political links in her home country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"That makes him very dangerous where we come from - you don't want to go against someone like that," she told us.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Her low pay meant she was unable to continue paying rent for her mum and children - and they were forced to leave their accommodation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Terri was on a night shift while her mother and children spent the night on the streets. They were spotted by a member of the public and Terri was reported to social services.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When they asked to see her rota they were shocked. "This is too much, this is insane," she says they told her.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Social services helped Terri get placed in the National Referral Mechanism, the government system set up to identify and support victims of modern slavery.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She and her family are now in accommodation provided by social services. Terri is now seeking asylum in the UK - and until a decision is made she isn't allowed to work.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Home Office has told her she has "reasonable grounds" to prove she was a victim of modern slavery. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>