Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Windrush victim sees his mum for 1st time in 10yrs
A MAN wrongfully detained in the Windrush scandal has returned to Jamaica to see his 90-year-old mum for the first time in a decade.
Anthony Bryan, 61, was twice held by authorities and told he would be deported to the island he left aged eight.
The decorator feared being denied re-entry if he visited Lucille Thompson. Mr Bryan, who came here in 1965, finally saw her in St Ann’s earlier this month – his first time outside the UK in 53 years.
He said: “I couldn’t leave [before], I knew I’d have problems coming back.
“I was told my people had got stuck out here. You go out for a funeral or a wedding and you couldn’t come back.” He added of his June 10 reunion: “It was great. When I came she started crying.”
He fell victim to the Government’s “hostile environment” to immigrants in 2015, as his mum’s health deteriorated.
And he said: “I wanted to visit mum. It’s fortunate she’s lasted until now.” His case was highlighted when it emerged members of the Windrush generation were being deported, detained or denied rights here, despite being legal residents.
The grandad, of Edmonton, North London, got his residence permit last month on ITV’S Good Morning Britain, which gave him flights. Friday marks 70 years since Empire Windrush arrived.