THE WINDRUSH GENERATION

Circa 1948, hundreds of people from the Caribbean, now referred to as the ‘Windrush Generation’, arrived in the UK to embark on a new life. They had been invited to the UK in the aftermath ​of World War two to help rebuild the country.

Although the Windrush generation marked the beginning of post war mass migration in Britain, recent initiatives by the UK government to curb immigration have left them in a precarious position. In 2018, in a scandal that forced the then Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, to resign, members of the windrush generation were faced with deportation to their country of origin despite having lived and worked for the majority of their lives in Britain.

This was following the immigration policies introduced in 2014 and 2016 and implemented primarily under the coalition government of 2010. In a bid to introduce a ‘hostile environment’ for irregular migrants, these new policies aimed to make it difficult for them to access employment, housing, healthcare and even education. For instance, Section 38 of the 2014 act, stipulates a health care charge, for those who the home office deem immigrants. This was particularly detrimental to one man who was expected to pay £54000 for his cancer treatment, despite having lived and worked in the UK for over 40 years, after arriving from St. Lucia at age 14.

Further to this, up to 850 people had been illegally detained following the implementation of these acts, who the home office has had to now compensate. In doing this, the home office was in direct violation of the article 5 of the European human rights convention which stipulates the right to liberty. A further report into this found, the reported noted as previously mentioned the clear interference with one’s human rights and it cannot be used on the basis of mere incorrect information or inability to provide a specific piece of supplementary information.

The crux of this issue is that despite being invited to stay in the country the home office didn’t keep records of their arrivals and status in the country thus when the home office began their checks, many of these citizens appeared to be undocumented. Due to this, they unfortunately treated with a high level of hostility and very little understanding or even empathy.

This scandal has been met with much outrage from the public and parliament alike. It is particularly noteworthy as these policies were implemented while Theresa May (our current UK prime minister) was the Home Secretary. There have been many debates held around this topic, for example the passionate speech below by David Lammy MP.

The home office offered apologies and excuses, and the then home secretary Amber Rudd even resigned following the public outcry at the scandal. Additionally, the current home secretary, Savid Javid,has made concessions for those who want to become documented, for example they do not have to take the citizenship test, or pay for any application fees. Is this enough to undo the treatment of these people?

Despite this, it can be argued that the removal of these citizens reflects the increasing hostility towards migrants in the UK, that is also institutionalized in the legal framework. It is clear that migrants in the UK are and always have been positioned as precarious subjects whose citizenship is perpetually threatened and with the inextricable relationship of human rights to citizenship, so is their humanity.