On 19th March, Thursday the latest Windrush report found ”institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness towards race” in the Home Office and the critics have now demanded for structural reforms in the government department to avoid future mistreatment of immigrants.
The Windrush Lessons Learned review submitted by Wendy Williams criticises the Home Office officials of a “reckless” and “defensive” behaviour in wrongly classifying thousands of legal UK residents as illegal immigrants. Addressing the report at the House of Commons, Home Secretary Priti Patel said,
“We must all take responsibility of the suffering of thousands of this generation and the unintended consequences of such a mishap.
“There is nothing I can say today which will undo the pain, suffering and misery inflicted on the Windrush generation. What can I do is say sorry for the actions taken place decades ago. And I am sorry for the suffering that a generation had to endure.
"I will review the recommendations Wendy Williams makes in relation to the way the Home Office operates as an organisation. I will continue to look closely at its leadership, culture, practices and the way it views the communities it serves.”
The report focuses on the discriminatory effects of “hostile environment” immigration policies introduced by Theresa May when she was home secretary in 2012. It condemns Home Office staff for failing to treat those affected with dignity or adequate respect and criticises the department for failing in its duty to counter racial discrimination.
Following the scandal and consequent investigations which proved that these citizens were wrongfully being deported out of the UK, over 8,000 people have been given documentation proving that they are – and always were – living legally in the UK.
A compensation scheme has been set up with an estimated budget of between £200m and £570m, but at the last count only £62,198 had been paid out, shared between 36 people.
