By Phillipa Anamoah-
Prime Minister Theresa May has today announced the establishment of a Windrush Commemoration Committee to consider how best to create a permanent, fitting tribute to the Windrush generation and their descendants. Over 2,000 people attended a thanksgiving service marking 70 years since the arrival of Caribbean migrants in Britain from the Empire Windrush ship
Chaired by Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Floella Benjamin, the cross-party and community-led group will explore a range of options for commemorating the Windrush generation and honouring their legacy. The Windrush generation’s NHS workers are among those be celebrated during the 70th anniversary of the beginning of a wave of Caribbean migration to the UK.
Friday marks seven decades since the generation began with around 500 Caribbeans disembarking the Empire Windrush ship in Tilbury Docks in 1948, two weeks before the health service was formed.
Options on the cards include a museum exhibition, a naming ceremony or a Windrush statue in an area of the UK which has particular links to Caribbean history.
Today, June 22nd marks 70 years since Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury Docks carrying nearly 500 men and women who arrived in Britain from the Caribbean in response to labour shortages in the UK. The image of the ship has since come to symbolise the UK’s diversity – and the huge contribution the Windrush generation has made to all aspects of British life.The committee is to be a supported by a secretariat and funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The Prime Minister’s announcement follows the government’s announcement of an annual Windrush Day earlier this week, and comes ahead of a day of Windrush celebrations including a National Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey this morning, and a Downing Street Windrush reception later today. The welcome news came after a series of blunders were exposed by the UK Guardian Newspaper, after it emerged that thousands of immigrants from the Windrush generation had been wrongly deported because they did not have documents proving the legal status in the Uk. Theresa May’s hostile polices in 2013 led to an aggressive confrontation with individuals believed to be residing in the Uk illegally. There is nothing illegitimate about rounding up illegal immigrants for eventual deportation, but not with a policy that fails to carefully ensure the wrong people are not being rounded up with those who are truly illegal immigrants.
Prime Minister Theresa May said:
Many aspects of British society today would be simply unrecognisable without the contributions of the Windrush generation, from our health and transport services to our politics, businesses, literature and culture.
The work of the Windrush Commemoration Committee will ensure that the legacy of Caribbean migrants who arrived here 70 years ago to help rebuild our country and build their lives here, will never be forgotten.
Baroness Floella Benjamin, Chair of the Windrush Commemoration Committee, said:
It’s an honour to have been asked by Prime Minister Theresa May to Chair the Windrush Commemoration Committee. This a significant step in recognising the contribution made to Britain by Caribbean people, and this Committee will make sure the work and sacrifices of the Windrush pioneers will live on in the hearts and minds of future generations.