Windrush 75: What is Windrush and who are the Windrush generation?

It is 75 years since the HMT Empire Windrush docked successful Tilbury, Essex, connected 22 June 1948, carrying passengers from the Caribbean to capable labour shortages successful the UK.

In 2018 it emerged that the authorities had not decently recorded the details of radical who had been granted support to enactment successful the UK, and galore were wrongly deported.

HMT Empire Windrush became a awesome of a wider mass-migration movement.

Its 492 passengers, and others who arrived to the UK from Caribbean countries betwixt 1948 and 1971, became known arsenic the Windrush generation.

Many had served successful the British equipped forces successful World War Two.

People from crossed the past British Empire were encouraged to determination to the UK to assistance with post-War labour shortages and rebuild its battered economy.

Many of those who came became manual workers, drivers, cleaners, and nurses successful the newly-established NHS.

Some broke caller crushed successful representing achromatic Britons successful society.

Jamaican-British Sam Beaver King served successful the RAF during the War, and took a occupation arsenic a postman aft arriving astatine Tilbury successful his 20s.

He became a campaigner for black-British rights, and the archetypal achromatic politician of Southwark. He besides established a programme for migrants to bargain homes successful the UK, and co-founded the country's archetypal Caribbean-style carnival - a precursor to the Notting Hill Carnival.

It is unclear however galore radical from the Windrush procreation are inactive successful the UK, but the fig is thought to beryllium successful the thousands.

They are among much than 500,000 UK residents who were calved successful a Commonwealth state and arrived earlier 1971, according to University of Oxford estimates.

Commemoration events person been held each twelvemonth connected 22 June since 2018.

The HMT Empire Windrush's accomplishment has besides been celebrated galore times successful fashionable culture, specified arsenic successful the 2012 London Olympic opening ceremony.

The 1971 Immigration Act gave Commonwealth citizens surviving successful the UK indefinite permission to stay - the imperishable close to unrecorded and enactment successful the UK.

This included the Windrush procreation but besides radical from different erstwhile British colonies successful South Asia and Africa.

However, successful April 2018, it emerged that the UK Home Office had kept nary records of those granted support to stay, and had not issued the paperwork they needed to corroborate their status.

It had besides destroyed landing cards belonging to Windrush migrants, successful 2010.

Those affected were incapable to beryllium they were successful the state legally and were prevented from accessing healthcare, enactment and housing.

A reappraisal of humanities cases besides recovered that astatine slightest 83 radical who had arrived earlier 1973 had been wrongly deported.

In April 2018, then-Prime Minister Theresa May apologised for their treatment. An enquiry was announced and a compensation strategy established.

The inquiry, which released its study successful March 2020, said that the ungraded was some "foreseeable and avoidable", and criticised "a civilization of disbelief and carelessness" successful the Home Office.

The enquiry made 30 recommendations, including:

Then-Home Secretary Priti Patel accepted the recommendations successful full.

Wendy Williams criticised the decision, saying the proposals would person raised the "confidence of the Windrush community".

But the strategy has been consistently criticised for processing delays, debased offers, and unfair rejections reversed connected appeal.

In response, the Home Office said it was "committed to righting the wrongs of Windrush", and that the strategy had paid oregon offered much than £68m successful compensation to the radical affected.

The authorities insisted it would guarantee "similar injustices tin ne'er beryllium repeated and [was] creating a Home Office worthy of each assemblage it serves".