Windrush
What happened and why is there still a problem today?
Where did the Windrush generation come from?
Why did the government fail do deal with this?
How can we still take action to help the situation today?
This page will be your one-stop shop to understanding the basics of the windrush scandal in the UK. Please read on
The Origins of the Windrush Generation
The Windrush generation is a group of commonwealth immigrants who came to the UK after WWII to help rebuild the country and provide much-needed work. At the time, commonwealth citizens could freely travel to the UK, so many did not have the proper certification to show when they emigrated. As you will see, this last point would become particularly important...
The Hostile Environment
From 2010, to stop a surge in support for radical right-wing parties, the governing Conservatives promised to go hard on 'illegal' immigrants. One measure was to put 'Go Home' vans onto city streets, which threatened people they deemed illegal. The Home Office also contacted people without proper certification and proof of immigration, telling them they had to make their way out of the country themselves, or they would be detained and forced out. Another key policy was to strip people's rights to access, banks, housing, benefits, and public services.
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The plan was to make the UK unlivable for people who immigrated to the country illegally. The issue that arose was that, in many cases, they were instead targeting those who had lived in the UK for decades.
The Effects on People
The Hostile Environment massively affected people's lives. They were threatened with deportation, and they lost everything in their lives - from their house to their medical care.
This led to Amelia Gentleman exposing this scandal to the world with the case of Paulette Wilson. Ms Wilson left Jamaica when she was 10 and lived her entire adult life in the UK. She was told in 2015 that she had 6 months to leave the UK. At the same time, they removed her benefits and made her homeless. She was put into a detention centre, which made her feel like she 'didn't exist.' She managed to get legal help through a charity and went through the enduring process of finding proof of her living in the UK since her arrival in 1968.
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After this was published, many more cases came forwards, and both the government & public realised the scale of the scandal. Up to 57,000 migrants are estimated to have been affected by this.
What has Happened Since
Since the scandal emerged, a lot has happened. After so many people came forward with their stories, this pushed the home secretary, Amber Rudd, to resign. Her successor, Sajid Javid commissioned a review of the scandal in 2018 to learn the lessons and make sure the scandal was never repeated. Compensation has also been offered for those who were affected, but it is nowhere near perfect.
The Current Problems
Although the government wants to sweep this scandal under the rug, the problems are far from over. As mentioned, the compensation process is not great, being long, arduous, and pitifully small. Moreover, the government is still operating under a policy of hostile environment for illegal immigrants, which is entirely inhumane, and it keeps the door open for further scandals like Windrush to happen.
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In 2020, the Home Office published an action plan on Windrush, but many have criticised it for lacking in substance and intentionally misinterpreting the recommendations made in the 2018 report.
How we can Solve This
OK so we know the problems, but how can we solve them?
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Firstly, one way is to make noise about Windrush & let the government know that the public has not forgotten about it. The immense public pressure and support for the generation led the government to act before, so why not now?
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Another way is to share resources (like this one) about Windrush to friends, family and others, so they can learn about what happened.
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Finally, reading more about the matter will help to deepen your understanding of the matters at hand. Below are a few sites to read more on this if you are interested.