Injustice faced by Windrush families
The Windrush scandal mainly affected UK citizens originally from the Caribbean.
Granted indefinite leave to remain in 1971, thousands were children who had travelled on their parents’ passports, so many were unable to prove they had the right to live in the country when “hostile environment” immigration policies – demanding the showing of documentation – began in 2012.
The Home Office kept no record of those granted leave to remain and issued no paperwork, making it hard for arrivals to prove they had a right to be in the UK.
In 2010, the Home Office destroyed landing cards belonging to Windrush migrants. People who lacked documents were told they needed evidence to continue working, get NHS treatment, or even to remain in the UK.
Changes to immigration law by successive governments left people fearful about their status and threatened with deportation. A review of historical cases found that at least 83 individuals who had arrived before 1973 had been removed from the country.
The name “Windrush” refers to the ship MV Empire Windrush, which docked in Tilbury in 1948, bringing workers from the Caribbean to help fill post-war labour shortages.
The influx ended with the 1971 Immigration Act, when Commonwealth citizens in the UK were given indefinite leave to remain. After this, an overseas-born British passport holder could only settle with a work permit and proof of a parent or grandparent being born in the UK.