Jun 7, 20224 min read

The Windrush Scandal

Updated: May 7, 2023

What is it?

The Windrush immigration scandal came apparent in 2018 after legislation previously was aimed at reducing the non-white population in the country. At the time and in recent times the immigration laws had negatively impacted black people the most over other minority groups. The Windrush Scandal is threats (and actions) from the United Kingdom's government in relation to deporting Commonwealth citizens' children. Despite living and working in the United Kingdom for decades many had lost their homes, jobs and access to NHS services after being wrongly classed as illegal citizens. Many were wrongfully detained and even deported back to the Caribbean as a result of this scandal with no compensation for the wrongful actions made by the United Kingdom's Home Office.

The Home Office had commissioned a private report about the Windrush Scandal that was supposedly written by an independent author. However, it had attempted to educate staff about Britains colonial history, history of migration and the history of Black Britons. However, there was a reference to the 'Williams Review' that has blamed this issue upon institutional racism. Through understanding what the Windrush is and how it has affected individuals throughout the United Kingdom it is important to refer to the core roots of the Windrush. It must be highlighted that the report had concluded that the implications of the Windrush scandal was a result of there being a failure to understand that immigrations law had negatively impacted black people over other racial and ethnic groups. The immigration and citizenship legislations between 1950 and 1981 was designed to reduce the number of black or brown individuals permitted to live and work within the United Kingdom. Despite these legislative implementations, the Race Relations Policy had attempted to prompte a united racial equality.

How is it affecting people?

Despite working and living within the United Kingdom for decades many of the Windrush generation were told they were illegal because of a lack of official paperwork. The 1971 Immigration Act had given commonwealth citizens the right to remain within the United Kingdom, with many families not being aware that paperwork would be needed to be complete. As the Windrush migrants had came from British colonies that were not independent at the time they had believed to be classified as British citizens. However, as many were unable to prove that their legal status to be within the United Kingdom they are being deported back to the Caribbean islands. In 2018 there had been a minimum of 83 individuals that had been removed from the United Kingdom due to not being able to provide evidence.

In 2018 Theresa May the Prime Minister had apologised for the treatment of the Windrush generation and announced a compensation scheme was established. In 202 the report was finalised and released with the Home Office taking accountability for being in a "culture of disbelief and carelessness". There was improvements to be made within the Home Office outlined by the inquiries suggestions such as appointing a migrants commissioner, establishing a race advisory board and setting up a eview of the immigration policies. Around 15,000 individuals were sought to be eligible for the compensation scheme however more than 20 people had died before receiving any money. Despite the government believing these payments were compensation it could result in a loss of earnings for people as well as many believing this is a chance for the government to actually not learn from this event in history.

Legal impact:

A lawyer for Windrush victims has proposed the idea that the government must publish a report suggesting that institutional racism within the United Kingdom's Home Office had caused this scandal. There is a huge backlog of cases still to be resolved, as many had used their parents passports and report cards coming into the United Kingdom, this evidence was destroyed decades ago. The Windrush Compensation scheme is a failure due to being complex, there being a lack of free legal advice and claims taking months to process. Many of the Windrush generation have not applied for the compensation scheme and the government are still yet to compensate those who have applied. It is a long winded process that must be prioritised by the government to ensure that those affected by this event are 'supported'.

The 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act introduced a voucher system, under which only a limited number of migrants from the Commonwealth were permitted to enter the UK, curtailing free movement within the British empire and restricting an open-door policy that had been enshrined in law in 1948
The 1968 Commonwealth Immigrants Act altered the rules on who could apply for employment vouchers, dividing applicants into “belonging” and “non-belonging” citizens. To qualify as belonging, an individual had to prove a connection to the UK through a parent or grandparent – in other words, “belonging” was a euphemism for “white”. The legislation also deprived more than a million individuals worldwide of their right to enter Britain, including those from the Caribbean, Malaysia and Singapore, many of whom held only British passports and so were effectively rendered stateless.
The 1971 Immigration Act further constrained Commonwealth citizens’ right to enter the UK, ending large-scale immigration from the Commonwealth. It introduced a new term, “patrial”, to describe those to whom immigration controls would not apply. A “patrial” was defined as an individual who had a grandparent born in the UK, or a parent born or naturalised in the UK. This meant that white citizens of former colonies, such as those from Canada, Australia and other “settler colonies”, were the beneficiaries of positive discrimination in that they were far more likely than their counterparts from places like Jamaica to have UK-born ancestors.
The 1981 British Nationality Act followed concerns expressed by Margaret Thatcher that “people are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped by people with a different culture”. The act required Commonwealth citizens who had settled in the UK to register to become British citizens.