A global human rights group reported that Windrush victims are still facing delays and inadequate compensation.
Human Rights Watch recommended that the Home Office’s compensation program be transferred to an independent body.
Thousands of British citizens, mostly of Caribbean descent, were misclassified as illegal immigrants five years ago.
The Home Office stated that it was “committed to rectifying the Windrush scandal.”
A spokesperson for the program stated that it had “paid or offered more than £68 million in compensation to those affected” and that it would “ensure that similar injustices are never repeated and create a Home Office worthy of every community it serves.”
The scandal, which broke out in April 2018, affected Caribbean immigrants to the United Kingdom between 1948 and 1971.
They have been referred to as the Windrush generation, a reference to the ship HMT Empire Windrush, which docked in Tilbury on 22 June 1948, bringing workers from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and other islands to help cover post-war labor shortages in the United Kingdom.
This year signifies the 75th anniversary of its entrance into existence.
It also affected non-Caribbean former British colonies who migrated to the United Kingdom before the 1971 immigration law amendments.
Many affected individuals were unable to obtain employment, housing, or healthcare. Some long-term UK residents were mistakenly deported.
Human Rights Watch stated that people should be able to receive legal aid for their compensation applications. Because the process is “complex, subject to arbitrary decision makers, and simply inaccessible.”
Victims had to find former employers and landlords who rejected them years earlier, which was “unreasonable,” it said.
According to the organization’s report, claimants “do not feel they would receive a fair hearing” at the Home Office. Which is responsible for the injustices.
Black Equity Organisation (BEO), an anti-racism advocacy group, also demands that the program be administered by an independent body.
Wanda Wyporska, the Home Office’s chief executive, stated that the Home Office had “created a process so bureaucratic and convoluted that some Windrush victims died before they could complete it.”
“It is unforgivable that the horrifying harm done to the Windrush generation is compounded by the gross mismanagement of the program designed to assist them,” she added.
Formal complaint
Thomas Tobierre, 69, said he moved to the UK as a child from St. Lucia, a British territory, in 1965.
Mr. Tobierre worked as an engineer for roughly half a century, primarily for the same company. However, after being laid off in 2017, he stated that he was unable to accept another position. Because he could not provide evidence that he was legally permitted to reside and work in the United Kingdom.
“It’s as if they’re denying your existence,” he stated.
He explained that he depleted his £14,000 private pension fund while he was unemployed.
When Mr. Tobierre applied for compensation, he spent weeks gathering proof that he had lived in the United Kingdom for as long as he claimed, such as a primary school report from the 1960s that he had retained.
He stated that the Home Office also requested proof that he had depleted his pension fund, only to later inform him that occupational pension losses were not covered by the scheme.
Charlotte, his daughter, stated that she had filed a formal complaint regarding the non-compensation of his pension loss.
After an appeal, the Home Office awarded Mr. Tobierre $16,000 in 2020, up from $3,000.
Although the amount was less than what he lost from his pension and obligations, he accepted the settlement because he needed to pay for his wife Caroline’s stage four cancer-related home modifications.
Mr. Tobierre reapplied in 2021 when Caroline applied as a close relative of an impacted person. She was given a prognosis of approximately 12 weeks to live and requested funds to pay for her funeral.
“They [the Home Office] put her through such a long interview,” he said, adding, “She broke down so many times.” I don’t believe that was required.”
MB, whose name has been shortened, told her mother Eleanor that she had been homeless for 25 years because she was unable to establish her legal status in the United Kingdom.
According to MB, she applied for compensation when the program was introduced in 2019 and was asked for documents that were either lost or never existed.
She inquired, “Who keeps paperwork from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s?” “She [her mother] recalled visiting an agency [to seek employment], and her attorney contacted them, but they said they did not recall her. Why would they do that? This occurred years ago.”
Jacqueline McKenzie, a lawyer who represents hundreds of Windrush victims, told that the scheme was “torturing” individuals by requiring them to provide “extensive amounts of evidence” that they do not possess.
She stated, “Much of this goes back decades, particularly in terms of employment. So many of the employers and the types of places they worked no longer exist.”
Ms. McKenzie added that the problems with the program appeared to be “worsening.” Stating, “They’ve had four years, so we would have anticipated rapid improvements.”
