40 years as a taxpayer … now gran has lost her job
A WINDRUSH grandmother who has paid taxes for almost 40 years was sacked from her charity job because she could not prove her right to remain.
Jessica Eugene, who arrived in Britain in 1970, was fired as a receptionist at a migrant charity last month after three years.
Miss Eugene, 58, came over from the Caribbean island of Dominica aged just ten and has lived in Stratford, east London, ever since.
She considers herself British, has raised four children in the capital and says immigration officers had told her she had an ‘indefinite right to remain’ here.
But now – 48 years after her arrival and despite having worked a number of jobs including 17 years at a fair trade organisation – she has been told she cannot work and has lost her job at Newham Community Renewal Programme.
She said: ‘The whole time I had the immigration officers’ words in my head, that I had the indefinite right to stay … all my life I have worked and paid my taxes, even when I had children I made sure to work part-time.’
Miss Eugene, who has two grandchildren, has never had a passport because she has not left the country since 1970. However, she was so convinced of her right to stay that she believed she did not need one.
She even claims she tried to clarify her status with the Home Office a year ago – to no avail. Only after losing her job was she told that she must provide it with a passport in order to obtain a right to remain.
Miss Eugene said the Government’s recent announcement that all Windrush immigrants have the right to stay has offered some solace.
But she added: ‘They need to look at people as individuals. I’m a bit disappointed – from a moral point of view I just wanted an apology.’
The Home Office said it had no record of Miss Eugene sending it an application but emphasised that all Windrush immigrants should be in no doubt of their right to remain. Newham Community Renewal Programme was approached for comment.