Residents caught in crackdown

British Home Secretary Amber Rudd has apologised to thousands of British residents who arrived from the Caribbean decades ago and are now being denied basic rights after being incorrectly identified as illegal immigrants.

Prime Minister Theresa May is under growing pressure to resolve the issue of the “Windrush generation” of migrants who arrived in Britain more than 50 years ago and have become victims of a recent tightening of the immigration system.

More than 140 MPs have signed a letter calling on May to resolve an anomaly that means many people who immigrated as children between 1948 and 1971 are being denied health services or prevented from working. Intensifying the row, Junior Home Office Minister Caroline Nokes admitted yesterday that some people may have been deported in error.

Many have been told they need evidence including passports to continue working or getting health treatment despite living, working and paying tax in Britain for decades. Some arrived on their parents’ documentation and never formally applied for British citizenship or a passport.

Rudd said a new unit would be set up to help people establish their right to remain in Britain and that if anyone needs to apply for new documents, the fees will be waived. “Frankly, some of the way they have been treated has been wrong, has been appalling, and I am sorry,” she told Parliament.

There is widespread anger that long-term residents have fallen victim to rule changes in 2012, when May was Home Secretary, aimed at stopping overstaying. — Reuters, AAP