Immigration control cases are legion in the UK, and a case that made headlines four years ago is resurfacing after the publication on Monday 17 April of a new confidential report by the NGO Human Rights Watch, which points to the atrocities of the Windrush scandal against West Indian immigrants.
from our correspondent in London,
A little over four years ago, under Theresa May’s government, the Windrush scandal had revealed that the British government had quantified targets for deporting people in an irregular situation. But to understand the magnitude of the disaster, it is necessary to explain which community is affected by the Windrush affair, which takes its name from theEmpire Windrushthe ship that brought thousands of immigrants to the UK from the Caribbean, including Jamaica, just after World War II to help rebuild the country. Hence their name “Windrush generation”.
embarrassed apologies
It was then the symbol of English multiculturalism. Important detail: at the time, the government did not consider it useful to regularize these immigrants. In 75 years, these families settled legally in the United Kingdom, worked, paid their taxes. However, in recent years, the policy has been to expel them, to send them back to “their” country, where most of them have never set foot or set foot again.
Four years ago, Prime Minister Theresa May apologized for this policy, whileHome Secretary Amber Rudd, got bogged down in explaining why these 550,000 immigrants that we had gone to look for were suddenly in an irregular situation. In the meantime, there has been talk of compensating part of it.
New Human Rights Watch Report Highlights Gray Areas About Compensation
That the investigation by Human Rights Watch reveals, it is a “hostile compensation system”. Already, victims are being asked to provide evidence so preposterous that most are automatically excluded from the protocol. The decisions are arbitrary and in case of refusal, there is no recourse to appeal. In January, out of 11,500 eligible people, only 12.8% had been compensated. Today, the UK government is called upon to ensure a transparent and fair programme.
Finally, the report emphasizes that beyond the issue of compensation, this new Windrush scandal is yet another example of ” institutionalized racism “, at a time when the United Kingdom is particularly confronted with the consequences of its colonial and slavery past.