By Ben Kerrigan-
The Home Office department demonstrated “institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness” towards the issue of race and the history of the Windrush generation but the actions did not satisfy all of the features of institutional racism, findings from an independent review said.
Among those affected were Wolverhampton grandmother Paulette Wilson, who grew up in Telford after moving there from Jamaica aged 10.She was held in a detention centre and came close to being deported, despite having lived in the UK for 50 years.
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The author of the report, Wendy Williams, an inspector of constabulary, said at its launch: “The Windrush generations has been poorly served by this country, a country to which they contributed so much and in which they had every right to make their lives. The many stories of injustice and hardships are heartbreaking, with jobs lost, lives uprooted and untold damage done to so many individuals and families.”
Making a statement to MPs on the Windrush lessons learned review, the Home Secretary said: “As this review makes clear, some members of this generation suffered terrible injustices spurred by institutional failings spanning successive governments over several decades – including ignorance and thoughtlessness towards the race and history of the Windrush generation.”
Ms Patel said there was an “ongoing mission” to put this right, adding: “Lives were ruined and families were torn apart, and now an independent review has suggested that the Home Office’s institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness to the issue of race and the history of the Windrush generation contributed to this. This is simply unacceptable”.
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Author Wendy Williams told reporters: “Warning signs from both inside and outside the Home Office were apparent for a number of years, and even when stories began to emerge in 2017 in the media about high-profile injustices, I have concluded that the Home Office was still too slow to react.
“I talk about a culture of disbelief and carelessness when dealing with applications.
Environment policy would be effective, was effective, and should be pursued at all costs.
“I have also talked about a culture of ignorance and thoughtlessness when dealing with matters of race, the Windrush generation, their history and circumstances.“The Windrush generation were let down by systemic operational failings by the Home Office.”The Windrush Lessons Learned Review was commissioned after people with a right to live in the UK were wrongfully detained or deported to the Caribbean.
UNQUALIFIED APOLOGY
The inquiry called for Home Office ministers to admit that serious harm was inflicted on people who are British and to provide an “unqualified apology” to those affected and the wider black African-Caribbean community. Other recommendations include commissioning a full review and evaluation of the hostile environment policy and that the Home Office should establish an overarching strategic race advisory board.
Ms Williams said the Windrush group had been “trapped by the hostile environment policy net”.
She added: “Those without documents were set, some would say, an impossible task.
“Others would say an unreasonably high standard of proof to prove their status.“And when they couldn’t, they were subject to the most appalling injustice and that included the things we have heard; losing jobs, losing homes, losing access to services like healthcare, and in extreme circumstances being removed, being locked up and as we heard in one case, dying.”
The report “carefully considered” whether the concept of institutional racism outlined by Sir William Macpherson in the inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence was “directly relevant to describe what occurred”. The inquiry found that although the case for institutional racism was supported by a number of factors, the Home Office did not satisfy the definition in full.It said: “I have not found, on the evidence that I have reviewed, that the organisational failings satisfy the Macpherson definition in full.
“Nevertheless, although the context for the Macpherson Inquiry was different to this lessons learned review, I have serious concerns that the factors I have set out in this section demonstrate an institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness towards the issue of race and the history of the Windrush generation.”
Since the scandal emerged in 2018, more than 8,000 have been given “some form of documentation” and the immigration status has been confirmed for almost 2,500, according to the most recent figures from the Home Office.
The department identified 164 people who had been deported or put in detention since 2002 amid the Windrush scandal, records said. A compensation scheme with an estimated budget of at least £200 million has been set up.But last month, campaigners hit out at the “paltry” number of people who have so far received payments and said the process was “slow and onerous”.A total of £62,198 was paid out up until the end of last year and shared between just 36 people, despite the department receiving more than 1,000 claims so far.
OMISSION
Home Secretary, Priti Patel said there was an “ongoing mission” to put this right, adding: “Lives were ruined and families were torn apart, and now an independent review has suggested that the Home Office’s institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness to the issue of race and the history of the Windrush generation contributed to this. This is simply unacceptable.
Ms Patel went on: “Despite the diverse and open nature of our country, too many people still feel they may be treated differently because of who they are or where their parents came from.
“Today’s report, which suggests in the Home Office there was an institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness to the issue of race and the history of the Windrush generation, is worrying for us all.”
Ms Patel said: “We must all look to ourselves, we must all do better at walking in other people’s shoes. We must all take responsibility for the failings that led to the unimaginable suffering of this generation.
“And let me be clear, Mr Speaker, there is nothing that I can say today which will undo the pain, the suffering and the misery inflicted upon the Windrush generation.
“What I can do is say that on behalf of this and successive governments, I am truly sorry for the actions that spanned decades and I’m sorry that people’s trust has been betrayed.
“We will continue to do everything possible to ensure that the Home Office protects, supports and listens to every single part of the community it serves.”
Image:bbc.co.uk
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