UK to make it right - British Gov't offers Windrush migrants citizenship

Inundated by a flood of harsh criticisms and public outrage over its handling of the Windrush Generation saga, the Theresa May-led Conservative Party Government yesterday moved beyond apology and compensation and pledged to grant citizenship to Caribbean migrants who helped to rebuild post-war Britain.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who has faced the brunt of criticisms from opposition lawmakers in the British Parliament on the issue, yesterday told her colleagues that she recognised the "harrowing" experiences that the Windrush migrants had undergone, even as she committed to righting the wrongs that had occurred.

She again apologised for the change in immigration rules that forced Caribbean nationals who migrated to the United Kingdom (UK) between 1948 and 1973 to prove that their status in Britain was legitimate by producing documentary evidence.

'WE LET THEM DOWN'

"I am personally committed to resolving this situation with urgency and purpose. Of course, an apology is just the first step in putting right the wrongs that these people have suffered," she told members of parliament.

"This should never have happened. We need to show a human face to how we work and exercise greater judgement where it is justified," Rudd told Parliament, adding that all Home Office records dating back to 2002 would be checked to see if anyone had been wrongly deported.

"The State has let these people down - travel documents denied, exclusions of returning to the UK, benefits cut and threats to deport. This has happened for some time. I will put this right, and where people have suffered loss, they will be compensated," she told lawmakers.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com

Reactions

Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith

"This is an excellent move, and it not only answers the questions persons have been asking but certainly delivers what we have been calling for and what Prime Minister Andrew Holness and other CARICOM heads had asked for -that there be some compensatory relief [and that] certainly the citizenship to which those persons are entitled will be granted".

Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Lisa Hanna

"We look forward to the action that will make sure that all the steps are followed through. We want to make sure that this doesn't happen again and that the migrants are treated with the dignity that they deserve."