93 Indians have fallen victim to UK's 'Windrush' immigration scandal as last week the UK government released latest figures on the number of Commonwealth nationals caught up in the row over citizenship rights.
While among 2,125 cases, most have been Caribbean, first time ever, Indian nationals have been provided with documentations of their rights to live and work in Britain by a special taskforce set up by the UK. Indians form the third largest group in this case, after countries like Jamaica (1,014) and Barbados (207). The others include Grenada (88), Trinidad and Tobago (85), and 638 were from countries classified simply as 'others'.
The group which is referred to as the 'Windrush generation' relates to a ship named 'Windrush' that brought Jamaican workers to UK shores in 1948. The scandal emerged as many who arrived as children around that period have been struggling to access state services and even threatened with deportation because they did not possess any documents to prove that they arrived before 1973, when Home Office made rules stringent. The landing cards that were used by these immigrants on disembarking were allegedly destroyed during a clear out.
In a letter dated July 10, UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid informed the Chair of the influential House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) that the Home Office has issued documentation to those who contacted the taskforce hotline between April and June this year, confirming Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or No Time Limit (NTL) visas for them, the PTI reported.
Under a Windrush scheme that was launched by the UK in May, for many of these applicants, their children were born in the UK, some arrived as minors, and were able to apply for British citizenship free of charge through various immigration routes. In June, 584 individuals were recorded as being granted citizenship through the scheme.
In his letter to HASC Chair, Labour MP Yvette Cooper, Javid reportedly said his department was also looking at the best ways of moving away from the so-called "hostile environment" to ensure there is "no adverse impact" on migrants who have a legal right to be in the UK.
Cooper, in response to the latest data said, "It is very disappointing that we still do not have information about the number of people wrongly detained, and that the Home Office has still not managed to make contact with the majority of those who were wrongfully deported or removed.”
