Why victims of the Windrush scandal are still waiting for justice
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 22 June 2023
⏱️ 36 minutes
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Summary
It's the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks in Essex - the ship that brought some of the first post-war migrants to the UK from the Caribbean to fill labour shortages. But years later, many were deemed illegal immigrants and were detained - or deported. The government launched a process to issue them with official documents alongside a compensation scheme. So why are so many still waiting for money? And will the victims of the Windrush scandal ever get justice?
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Guests:
- Matt Dathan, home affairs editor, The Times.
- Janet McKay-Williams, Windrush activist.
- Sairah Javed, solicitor at The Joint Council for The Welfare Of Immigrants.
Host: Manveen Rana.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | 75 years ago today, on 22 June 1948, the Empire Windrush became the symbol of a generation. |
| 0:13.2 | The ship carried more than 1,000 commonwealth citizens, mainly from the Caribbean, who had |
| 0:19.3 | been invited over by the British government to help with labour shortages after the war. |
| 0:25.9 | Like the many votefuls that followed, they'd been granted the right to remain in the UK. |
| 0:32.1 | In the decades that followed, the Windrush generation and their children and their grandchildren |
| 0:59.3 | have become a key part of British society. |
| 1:02.9 | Mr Marcus Rashford, the services to vulnerable children in the United Kingdom. |
| 1:09.3 | Hello everybody, I'm Ainsley Harrier and I'm going to be cooking a recipe for my super meals |
| 1:14.2 | pop book and it tastes absolutely fantastic. |
| 1:17.7 | From a child of the Windrush generation to a seat in the House of Lords, Baroness Florella |
| 1:22.4 | Benjamin, today became the first black Caribbean woman to be awarded the Order of Merit. |
| 1:28.6 | But now the term Windrush has lost some of the joy of that generation and instead it's |
| 1:40.8 | come to represent a scandal. |
| 1:46.8 | They face deportation, detention, a scandal. |
| 1:51.3 | So many of the Windrush generation are simply living in confusion. |
| 1:55.5 | It's absolutely a great deal because my daughter-in-law died last February and I couldn't go. |
| 2:03.9 | Is Windrush a unique mistake caused by officials or was it the policy, the political atmosphere, |
| 2:10.3 | a toxic racist undercurrents driven by public alarm over immigration? |
| 2:18.3 | The inquiry into this scandal branded the Home Office and the policy they were following |
| 2:23.7 | of creating a hostile environment for immigrants as being guilty of institutional racism. |
| 2:31.4 | The Prime Minister at the time, Theresa May, promised help. |
| 2:36.6 | The UK government will do whatever it takes, including where appropriate payment of compensation |
... |
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