Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WINDRUSH PAPERWORK DESTROYED
PM grovels as scandal grows
HOME Office bosses ordered the destruction of key documents which could have helped Windrush generation immigrants, it emerged yesterday.
Boxes of landing cards showing when they sailed to the UK were thrown out when Theresa May was Home Secretary – despite warnings it would make it harder to check their status.
The revelation came after Mrs May issued a grovelling apology to Caribbean leaders after citizens who had lived here for decades were wrongly branded illegal immigrants under new Tory rules.
The PM was unable to say none had already been deported. A former Border Agency worker turned whistleblower told how disembarkation cards were binned when the Home
Office shut its centre in Croydon, South London.
It meant there were no records from ships such as the Windrush, which brought legal migrants from the West Indies in the 50s and 60s. The ex-employee told The Guardian: “Because it was no longer possible to search the landing cards, people would be sent a standard letter that would state, ‘We have searched our records, we can find no trace of you in our files’.”
Labour’s David Lammy said: “It is an absolute disgrace. The Home Office must immediately guarantee the status of all Windrush generation children.”
The Government said it will help all they can. Mrs May told Commonwealth leaders: “We’re genuinely sorry.”