Windrush scandal a worry to EU nationals in Britain after Brexit, warns Verhofstadt
Department disposed of documents in 2010 leaving Windrush migrants unable to prove their status in UK
THE Government’s handling of the Win- drush citizens has led to fears that EU nationals could face similar problems after Brexit, the European Parliament’s representative in negotiations has said.
Guy Verhofstadt called on the Home Office to guarantee safeguards as he told The Daily Telegraph that the row over whether the Windrush generation had the right to remain in the UK had led to fears about how a new EU immigration system would work.
Theresa May yesterday apologised to Commonwealth leaders for the scandal. The Home Office also confirmed that, during Mrs May’s time as home secretary, it had destroyed landing cards that would have helped Windrush na- tionals prove their right to stay.
Mr Verhofstadt said the Home Office had agreed to explain its proposed registration system, adding: “This could be worrying for millions of EU citizens in the UK who may fear that they could face similar treatment after Brexit.”
The issue also raised demands for the European Court of Justice to arbitrate disputes between the UK and EU. Sajjad Karim, a Tory MEP, said: “If the Home Office and our justice system have so demonstrably failed in protecting Windrush British citizens, how can EU non-britons have confidence that their rights will be properly protected?”
THERESA MAY’S Home Office destroyed Windrush landing cards in 2010, leaving some migrants unable to prove they had the right to remain in UK, it has emerged.
Windrush citizens who subsequently wrote to the Home Office asking for information about when they arrived were told they could not be found in the system, a former staffer said. The decision to destroy the records was made when Mrs May was Home Secretary.
The landing cards, which recorded arrivals into the UK between the Fifties and Sixties, were often the only means of determining when someone had come to Britain. Mrs May, as Home Secretary, made a decision to tighten immigration rules in 2012, forcing Windrush citizens to find documentation to prove their right to stay. Without it, many were accused of being in the UK illegally and there are reports some were asked to leave.
After the records were deleted, people who asked the Home Office for help determining when they arrived in Britain “would be sent a standard letter that would state: ‘We have searched our records, we can find no trace of you in our files’”, a former staffer told The Guardian. Allies of Amber Rudd said the Home Secretary was “furious” at having to “clear up Mrs May’s mess” amid claims relations between the pair have “soured”.
Ms Rudd hinted at her frustration in a House of Commons debate on Monday when she told MPS the Home Office had lost sight of the individual and become too focused on policy and strategy. The claim was interpreted as a dig at Mrs May. Last night, an ally of the Home Secretary said: “Amber is having to clear up Theresa May’s mess and at the same time being blamed for it. Amber is privately furious because this is the system she inherited.
“You have to remember that, when Amber came in, the Home Office had already been changed into a ‘Maybotic’ way of thinking.”
Yesterday, the Prime Minister apologised to Commonwealth heads of Government as it emerged some members of the Windrush generation have been forced to attend deportation centres to prove they have the right to live in the UK. Officials said 49 cases were being looked into by the Home Office as a result of a hotline set up earlier this week.
David Lammy, the Labour MP, said yesterday it was “an absolute disgrace” the documents were destroyed, which “then forced Windrush-generation migrants to try and prove their status, threatening them with deportation and stripping them of their rights”.
He went on: “This was no accident and the orders to destroy records must have come from somebody at the top of the department. It is time for the Home Secretary to do the honourable thing, take responsibility for this fiasco and resign.”
But Mrs May’s spokesman said disposing of documents had been the right decision to take. The spokesman said the UK Border Agency disposed of registration slips in 2010, adding: “The slips provided details of an individual’s date of entry, but did not provide any reliable evidence relating to ongoing residence in the UK or their immigration status and therefore would not have bearing on immigration cases whereby Commonwealth citizens are proving residency in the UK.”
Asked if Mrs May had been aware of the disposal while she was home secretary, the spokesman said: “My belief, at this moment, is that it was an operational decision that was taken by the Border Agency.”
Mrs May yesterday told Commonwealth heads of government that she was “genuinely sorry” and would put the situation right.