End the hostile environment faced by immigrants – Mayor Khan
MAYOR OF London Sadiq Khan, has urged the government to learn the lessons of the Windrush scandal and take steps to end the ‘hostile environment’ faced by immigrants for good.
Khan said it was imperative that ministers help Londoners secure their immigration status by cutting extortionate immigration and citizenship fees, and improving funding for the advice and support sector.
The mayor made his call during a virtual event to mark Windrush Day on Monday, in partnership with the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, and included legal experts, activists and community and faith leaders.
Other speakers included Arike Oke, managing director of the Black Cultural Archives, Jacqui McKenzie, immigration law practitioner and member of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review Advisory Group, Chrisann Jarrett, founder of We Belong, and Patrick Vernon, OBE, social commentator and founder of the Windrush Justice Fund – a campaign to which the mayor has contributed £20,000.
HOSTILE POLICIES
Many of the Windrush generation – who came to Britain in the 1940s and 1950s, are still struggling to access the support and compensation they need, while the government’s ‘hostile environment‘ policies still exclude several others from their rights to residency and citizenship.
City Hall has provided £310,000 to boost the capacity of London’s immigration advice sector. The funding is being used by Justice Together, a collaboration of independent funders, to help widen access to free legal advice and strengthen the campaign for lawful and fair immigration and asylum processes.
The mayor called on the government to reduce the burden of immigration and citizenship fees, reinstate legal aid for immigration cases and provide proper financial support to advice services.
Khan said: “The Windrush generation’s contribution to our country, and to the success of our great city, must never again be understated or undervalued. We owe them an enormous debt of gratitude for the way they have influenced our lives and shaped our city.
“But another year has passed and lessons are still not being learned. Many of the Windrush generation and their families are still struggling to access the advice and support they need, and it is clear that too many Londoners are still being failed by an immigration system that is prohibitively expensive and simply not fit for purpose.