The British government came under fire on Friday 27 January for having abandoned a series of reforms promised to repair the damage caused to Caribbean migrants of the “
Windrush generation
”.
This takes its name from the ship Empire Windrush, landed on June 22, 1948 about forty kilometers from London, with on board men and women from Jamaica, but also from Bermuda or British Guyana, arriving to bring to the Kingdom United the manpower which it lacked in the post-war period.
But although supposed to be British, some of these migrants were treated as illegal immigrants and had to prove their presence in the United Kingdom each year or face deportation.
Reinforced measures
At the end of June 2020, Home Secretary Priti Patel accepted all thirty recommendations from an independent report advocating a humane approach to immigration.
His successor, the very right-wing Suella Braverman, has faced a cascade of condemnations since announcing on Thursday that she was going back on three of these commitments: the creation of a commissioner for migrants, the strengthening of the powers of the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, and the holding of reconciliation events.
New betrayal of the “Windrush generation”
British comedian David Harewood, who starred in the "
Homeland
" series, among others, denounced an "
atrocious
" renunciation.
"
We flirt dangerously with ideologues who don't care about bringing people together
," the comedian, whose parents, originally from Barbados, arrived in the UK in 1957, told LBC radio. Suella Braverman's Indian origins "
convenient
" for the Conservative Party, and pointed out that he had nothing in common with her.
As of Thursday, opposition MP David Lammy (Labour) ruled on Twitter that “
Britons arrested and deported by their own government are being spat on again by the Conservative government
”.
In Parliament, he urged the Minister of the Interior to come and explain her decision verbally.
This was announced Thursday through a written statement, in which Suella Braverman, for example, felt that there are "
more effective ways to address those affected
" than to organize reconciliation events.
Another opposition figure, MP Yvette Cooper denounced a “
new betrayal of the Windrush generation
”.
One of the organizers of the 75th anniversary of the Windrush generation, Patrick Vernon, denounced a "
slap in the face
".
SEE ALSO
- Dominique Reynié: "Migrants come more and more from countries where you learn to hate France"
