Thousands of Windrush migrants have been granted British citizenship

Nearly 3,700 people have been issued with British citizenship under a Home Office scheme set up in response to the Windrush scandal.

From May last year, members of the Windrush generation, their Uk-born children and those who arrived in the country as minors have been able to apply for citizenship free of charge. By the end of January ,3,674 people had been granted citizenship.

Ministers faced a furious backlash over the treatment of members of the Windrush generation, named after a ship that brought people to Britain from the Caribbean in 1948.

Commonwealth citizens who arrived before 1973 were automatically granted indefinite leave to remain, but many were not issued with any documents confirming their status.

A public outcry erupted after it emerged that long-term UK residents were denied access to services, held in detention or removed despite having lived legally in the country for decades.

The latest statistics show that as of 31 January, nearly 2,500 individuals had been given documentation confirming their right to be in the UK. There have been 48 requests for urgent and exceptional support under a policy introduced in December, of which 41 were under consideration, two had been approved and five had been declined.

The Home Office’s dedicated taskforce has rejected 597 applications made under the Windrush scheme.

Some 50 requests for refusals to be reviewed had been lodged, with two decisions over turned, 39 upheld, and nine in progress;

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said the majority of requests have yet to be finished.