Windrush victim fights for cash spent proving his right to stay
Nothing from Home Office 1 year on
A WINDRUSH victim whose fight to stay in Britain cost him £3,000 says he has not had compensation promised by the Government.
Paul Cudjoe, 64, arrived from Grenada in the 60s, aged 11, and went on to become a demolition worker and have two children with wife Frances.
But after his first trip abroad in 40 years, on a Caribbean cruise for the couple’s anniversary in 2010, immigration officials said he did not have the right passport stamp proving his right to stay. It cost him over £3,000 in legal fees to avoid being wrenched from his family.
Paul applied to a Home Office scheme announced last year to compensate the Windrush generation of workers wrongly told they were in the UK illegally – but says he has yet to receive a penny.
He said: “I spent a good amount of a redundancy payment on legal fees to stay here. If I owed the Government money, I’d be asked to pay with interest. I worked hard all my life, paid taxes, brought up two children, and did everything to be a good citizen.
“Then suddenly, I was asked to fight for the right to stay with my family.”
Wife Frances, a hospital receptionist, added: “The children and I were extremely distressed that Paul could be sent back to Grenada. Any savings we had went on lawyers’ bills.”
In the Commons last week, Shadow
Paul with his wife Frances
PAUL CUDJOE, LEFT, VICTIM OF THE WINDRUSH SCANDAL
Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds slammed slow progress on the scheme, which he said has compensated “just 60 people in its first year of operation”.
But Home Secretary Priti Patel refused to apologise. She told MPs over £1million has been offered to victims and would be paid out once they accepted. She said every case was being treated individually and that the process took time.
I worked hard, paid taxes. Suddenly, I was asked to fight for the right to stay with my family