Windrushers would support a public enquiry - UK pressure group

A United Kingdom (UK) political pressure group is insisting that apologies from Britain's Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, in and by themselves will not go far enough to erase the hurt that the hostile immigration policy, which gave birth to the Windrush scandal, has caused thousands of West Indians. Desmond Jaddoo, Windrush Movement (UK) chairman, is now advocating for a public enquiry into the whole matter.

"This will not erase the hurt that has been done. There are still persons who have been affected by the debacle whose choice it is to remain under the radar out of fear to even come forward in a bid to regularise their citizenship status," said Jaddoo.

The organisation has also proposed a National Windrush Day of Action, to be held on August 23, 2019, and is to follow on the back of the successful national Windrush Conference in Nottingham, England, last week, according to Jaddoo.

"When one examines the impact of the hostile environment policies, it is clear that immigrants from the West Indies, thousands of Jamaicans in particular, are the ones who have been disproportionately affected by the misapplication of these immigration laws. These people support the idea of a public enquiry," he noted.

"Add to this the feeling of betrayal that Windrush Generation members, many now elderly, must feel after giving so much of their lives to a country that they thought was their home. They contributed by working tirelessly for the buses, British rail, the national health service, and other organisations to help rebuild Britain after the Second World War."

NEED MORE THAN APOLOGIES

Jaddoo said that a public enquiry is needed to shed light on certain questions for which answers are not forthcoming, especially in an environment of mistrust of the UK authorities in regard to scandal.

"There should be no doubt. We would support a public enquiry around this issue. The people who are suffering as a result of this policy need more than apologies. So while we accept Javid's apologies, we are demanding more," said Jaddoo.

"There is a real need to find out why we have arrived at this point. The public enquiry that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Lawyers 4 Justice is also pushing for will highlight the seeming discrimination that Caribbean immigrants have faced."

Although primarily identified as the Windrush Generation and mainly from the Caribbean, it was estimated in April 2018 that based on figures provided by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, up to 57,000 Commonwealth migrants could be affected, of whom 15,000 were from Jamaica alone.

paul.clarke@gleanerjm.com