Windrush victims being failed by compensation scheme - report

Windrush ungraded victims are inactive facing agelong waits and inadequate offers of compensation, according to a caller study by a planetary quality rights group.

Human Rights Watch said the Home Office-run compensation strategy should beryllium handed to an autarkic body.

Five years agone it was revealed thousands of British people, astir of Caribbean origin, had been wrongly classed arsenic amerciable immigrants.

The Home Office said it was "committed to righting the wrongs of Windrush".

A spokesperson stated the strategy had "paid oregon offered much than £68m successful compensation to the radical affected", and that they would "make definite that akin injustices tin ne'er beryllium repeated and are creating a Home Office worthy of each assemblage it serves".

The scandal, which unfolded successful April 2018, affected radical who arrived successful the UK from Caribbean countries betwixt 1948 and 1971.

They person been labelled the Windrush procreation - a notation to the vessel HMT Empire Windrush, which docked successful Tilbury connected 22 June 1948, bringing workers from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and different islands, to assistance capable post-war UK labour shortages.

This twelvemonth marks the 75th day of its arrival.

It besides impacted radical from non-Caribbean countries that were antecedently British colonies, who moved to the UK earlier migration laws changed successful 1971.

Many of those affected were incapable to find enactment and lodging oregon entree to healthcare. Some, who had been successful the UK for astir oregon each of their lives, were wrongfully deported.

Human Rights Watch said radical should beryllium entitled to ineligible assistance for their compensation application, due to the fact that the process was "complex, taxable to arbitrary determination makers and conscionable not accessible".

It said the load of impervious placed connected victims was "unreasonable", requiring radical to way down employers and landlords who turned them down a fig of years ago.

The organisation's study besides said claimants "do not consciousness that they would get a just hearing" astatine the Home Office, "as it is the bureau liable for the injustices".

Thomas Tobierre, 69, told the BBC helium came to the UK arsenic a young kid from St Lucia successful 1965, erstwhile the Caribbean federation was inactive a British colony.

Mr Tobierre worked arsenic an technologist for astir 5 decades, mostly for the aforesaid firm. But, aft being made redundant successful 2017, helium said helium was incapable to instrumentality connected different occupation due to the fact that helium could not beryllium helium was legally entitled to unrecorded and enactment successful the UK.

"It's similar they're saying you don't exist," helium said.

He explained that helium utilized up his backstage pension money of £14,000 portion helium received nary income.

When Mr Tobierre applied for compensation, helium spent weeks gathering grounds to beryllium helium had been successful the UK arsenic agelong arsenic helium had - for example, an aged superior schoolhouse study from the 1960s that helium happened to person kept.

He said the Home Office besides asked him for grounds that helium had depleted his pension money lone to archer him aboriginal that the nonaccomplishment of occupational pensions was not covered by the scheme.

His girl Charlotte said she had filed a ceremonial ailment astir his pension nonaccomplishment not being compensated.

Mr Tobierre said the Home Office initially offered him £3,000, which - aft an entreaty - was revised up to £16,000 successful 2020.

He said that portion the magnitude was little than helium mislaid from his pension and debts, helium had accepted the colony due to the fact that helium needed to wage for location adaptations for his wife, Caroline, who had signifier 4 cancer.

Mr Tobierre said helium went done the process again successful 2021 erstwhile Caroline applied arsenic a adjacent household subordinate of idiosyncratic impacted. She had been told that she whitethorn lone person astir 12 weeks near to live, and wanted the wealth to wage for her funeral.

"They [the Home Office] enactment her done specified a agelong interview," helium said, adding: "She broke down truthful galore times. I don't deliberation that was necessary."

MB - whose sanction we person shortened - told the BBC her mum Eleanor was stateless for 25 years due to the fact that she could not beryllium she was legally successful the UK.

She applied for compensation erstwhile the strategy launched successful 2019, said MB, and was asked for documents that had either been mislaid oregon ne'er existed.

"Who keeps paperwork from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s?" she asked. "She [her mother] remembered going to an bureau [to inquire for work], and her solicitor contacted them, but they said they didn't retrieve her. And wherefore would they? This was years ago."

Jacqueline McKenzie, a solicitor representing hundreds of Windrush victims, told the BBC the strategy was "torturing people" by asking them for "copious amounts of grounds which radical conscionable don't have".

She said: "A batch of this goes backmost decades, peculiarly astir employment - truthful galore of the employers, and the sorts of places they were working... they don't exist."

Ms McKenzie added the issues with the strategy appeared to beryllium "getting worse", explaining: "They've had 4 years, truthful we would person expected to spot accelerated improvements."