17 April 2023 , 05:00
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Victims of the Windrush Scandal are being “failed and violated” by the Home Office’s compensation scheme, a report warns today.
Those affected are sometimes waiting years to even get an offer of compensation - which often then turns out to be inadequate.
Human Rights Watch interviewed more than a dozen victims, with concerns raised that the scheme “was designed to fail the people who were supposed to benefit from it”.
Its report comes exactly five years on from then-PM Theresa May apologising for the scandal on 17 April 2018.
The Windrush Scandal was when Black Britons from the Caribbean, who had been invited to the UK after the war, were wrongly accused of being here illegally.
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In 2019 the Home Office opened up a compensation scheme but as of January only 12.8% of the estimated 11,500 eligible claimants had been compensated, according to HRW analysis of official figures.
Empire Windrush brought one of the first large groups of post-war West Indian immigrants to the United Kingdom (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)Almaz Teffera, researcher on racism in Europe at HRW, said: “Five years after the Windrush scandal came to light, the Home Office compensation scheme is compounding its injustice by denying claimants their right to redress for the life-altering losses and negative effects it has had on their lives for years.
"The UK Government should hand over the compensation scheme to an independent body that guarantees each claimant a fair and independent hearing.”
A Home Office spokeswoman said: “We remain absolutely committed to righting the wrongs of Windrush and have paid or offered more than £68million in compensation to the people affected.
“We are making good progress towards the vast majority of recommendations from Wendy Williams’ report and believe there are more meaningful ways of achieving the intent of a very small number of others.
“Through this work, we will make sure that similar injustices can never be repeated and are creating a Home Office worthy of every community it serves.
“The Home Secretary continues to co-host Windrush Working Group meetings to discuss how we can work together to drive further improvements.”
The Mirror spoke to some of those who were victims of the Windrush Scandal and continue to be failed by the Home Office and its compensation scheme today
Dominic Akers-Paul
Dominic Akers-Paul, 29, has spent three years fighting for compensation after a Home Office error led to him being denied British citizenship.
Officials did not record his mother Franca as British - as they should have done - when she came here as a baby from St Kitts in 1963.
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The mistake meant that he could not get a passport for several years, so was unable to leave the country or get a job.
He missed out on school trips to Paris and the Alps, his grandma’s funeral in Grenada and a trip to the US after he won a prize.
Dominic Akers-Paul said he believes the Home Office drags out people’s compensation claims so they are forced to accept 'what’s on the table'
“You're just kind of a prisoner but with no end date because obviously you never know when they're gonna admit to their mistake. I was in limbo,” he said.
Mr Akers-Paul was initially offered £3,000 compensation, which was later increased to £40,000. However, after appealing he has not been told he may end up with nothing.
He said: “It seems like the Home Office wants to drag it out for as long as possible and hope that people will just accept what's on the table because they can't wait any longer.
“A lot of people have been forced to accept low amounts because they get tired or they get old.”
Roland Houslin
Roland Houslin, 54, was blocked from coming back to Britain when he was child despite being born here.
His family returned to Jamaica in the 1970s when he was five-years-old.
When his parents tried to move back to this country again they were told that because they had been away for two years they could only enter as visitors.
Mr Houslin eventually returned to the UK 15 years later in 1988.
He has been unable to claim compensation.
Roland Houslin described the compensation scheme as 'madness' and 'not fit for purpose'Mr Houslin criticised the fact that the Home Office is responsible for the compensation scheme.
He said: “The Home Office is the police man that took you in the back of the van so to speak and you end up with a few broken ribs.
“Then on the way to the police station, you're gonna ask the same policeman: how do you think I should be compensated?
“That is a situation that is happening with the scheme at the moment. It is the Home Office that wrecked these people's lives and are continuing to wreck their lives.”
He added: “The Home Office should have nothing to do with the decision, how much people get compensated, if they get compensated, if they are allowed back into the UK. It is total madness. This lunacy can't continue.”
What is the Windrush Scandal?
The Windrush Scandal was when Black Britons from the Caribbean who had been invited to come to work in the UK after World War II were wrongly accused of being here illegally.
Immigration rules brought in by former PM Theresa May - while she was Home Secretary - required people to prove their UK citizenship or residence right by meeting impossible government requirements.
In 2018 then-PM Theresa May apologised for the scandal but five years on the compensation scheme is still failing victims (Getty Images)As a result, many lost jobs, homes, health care, pensions, and benefits. In 2020, the Home Office admitted that it wrongly deported or detained at least 164 black British citizens and probably many more.
Many had arrived in the UK as children on their parents’ passports and never applied for travel documents, meaning they didn’t have the paperwork required to work, access services or even remain in the UK under the “hostile environment” created in 2012.
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