Catalogue Number
NMLH.2019.83.6
Object Name
Poster
Title
'Solidarity with the Windrush Generation'
Place
Manchester
People
Stand Up To Racism, Theresa May, Socialist Workers Party, Conservative Party
Events
Windrush
Date
2018
Description
'Solidarity With The Windrush Generation' Poster. The white part shows an image of black circle, and grey words and black words ' STAND UP TO RACISM'. The rosy part with white words 'SOLIDARITY WITH THE WINDRUSH GENERATION'. The yellow part with rosy words 'CREATE A 'HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT' FOR RACISM'.
This poster is about the Windrush scandal and Windrush generation. The scandal, which broke in April 2018, saw the UK government apologise for deportation threats made to Commonwealth citizens' children. Despite living and working in the UK for decades, many were told they were there illegally because of a lack of official paperwork. People arriving in the UK between 1948 and 1971 from Caribbean countries have been labelled the Windrush generation. It refers to the ship MV Empire Windrush, which docked in Tilbury on 22 June 1948, bringing workers from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and other islands, to help fill post-war UK labour shortages.
The ship carried 492 passengers - many of them children. They are among more than 500,000 UK residents who were born in a Commonwealth country and arrived before 1971, according to University of Oxford estimates. The influx ended with the 1971 Immigration Act, when Commonwealth citizens already living in the UK were given indefinite leave to remain.
After this, a British passport holder born overseas could only settle in the UK with both a work permit and proof of a parent or grandparent being born in the UK. The Home Office kept no record of those granted leave to remain and issued no paperwork - making it difficult for Windrush arrivals to prove their legal status. In 2010, it destroyed landing cards belonging to Windrush migrants. Because they came from British colonies that were not independent, they believed they were British citizens. Those who lacked documents were told they needed evidence to continue working, get NHS treatment, or even to remain in the UK.
Changes to immigration law by successive governments left people fearful about their status. A review of historical cases found that at least 83 individuals who had arrived before 1973 had been removed from the country.
In April 2018, then-prime minister Theresa May apologised for their treatment. An inquiry was announced and a compensation scheme established. The inquiry, which released its report in March 2020, said that the scandal was "foreseeable and avoidable". It criticised "a culture of disbelief and carelessness" in the Home Office. The inquiry made 30 recommendations including: setting up a full Home Office review of the UK's "hostile environment" immigration policy appointing a migrants commissioner establishing a race advisory board. The inquiry report author, Wendy Williams, warned there was a "grave risk" of similar problems happening again if the government failed to act. The Windrush Compensation Scheme was established in April 2019. About 15,000 people were thought to be eligible. However, the Home Affairs Committee - a cross-party body of MPs which examines immigration and security - says that by the end of September 2021, only a fifth of these had come forward, and only a quarter
had received compensation. More than 20 individuals died before receiving any money.The MPs argue that the compensation scheme has itself become a further trauma for those applying, with a "litany of flaws" in its design and operation. Their report highlights excessive burdens on claimants, inadequate staffing and long delays - and says many of those affected "are still too fearful of the Home Office to apply.
Information from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43782241
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