WHO ARE THE WINDRUSH GENERATION AND WHY HAVE A DAY OF COMMEMORATION?
Windrush Day marks the anniversary of the arrival of MV Empire Windrush at the Port of Tilbury, near London, on 22 June 1948. The arrival of the Empire Windrush nearly 72 years ago marked a seminal moment in Britain’s history and has come to represent the rich diversity of this nation.
Those who arrived on the Empire Windrush, their descendants and those who followed them have made and continue to make an enormous contribution to Britain, not just in the vital work of rebuilding the country and public services following World War 2 but in enriching our shared social, economic, cultural and religious life.
Overcoming great sacrifice and hardship, the Windrush Generation and their descendants have gone on to lead the field across public life, in business, the arts and sport. Britain would be much diminished without their contribution.
The MV Empire Windrush docked at the Port of Tilbury on 21 June 1948. However, passengers disembarked a day later on 22 June 1948 – hence why this has come to be known as Windrush Day.
WINDRUSH DAY GRANT SCHEMEThe Windrush Day Grant scheme was launched on 22 November 2018.
In June 2018, the government announced an annual Windrush Day to encourage communities across the country to commemorate the Windrush story on Windrush Day and throughout the year.
The national celebration is backed by a £500,000 Windrush Day Grant Scheme overseen by a Windrush Day Advisory Panel of community representatives.
Launched in October 2019, the Windrush Day Grant Scheme received over 200 bids for funding from community groups, charities and local authorities across England.
This year’s successful bids came from across the country from Bristol to Birmingham and Leicester to Leeds indicating the breadth of enthusiasm in communities across the country to mark Windrush Day 2020.
WINDRUSH DAY 2020
Building on from the last two years, there was a Press Release on 5th March 2020 on the UK Government Website from:Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and The Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP as follows:
‘The nation will pay tribute to the outstanding and ongoing contribution of the Windrush Generation and their descendants on 22 June 2020.’
- Community groups and local authorities across England to receive share of £500,000 to host events to honour the second national Windrush Day
- Funding will support exhibitions, lectures and workshops on June 22 and beyond
- Commemorative events and activities will place communities front and centre of Windrush Day 2020 as nation pays tribute to outstanding legacy of British Caribbean community.
ASKED TO COME BUT NEVER WELCOMED
Despite the plans for a Windrush Day and events of 22nd June 2020 which has taken effect there has been so much controversy and disappointment in relation to how the Windrush generation have been treated by the UK government; Many have been deported and declared as illegal immigrants because they did not have legal documents or passports proving they came to the UK as part of the Windrush generation.
The government has said they have no record of these people… one would think they would or it would not be difficult to ensure they had legal documents.
One can only conclude that after they managed to get people to come and do much needed work, once they came, ensuring their residence status and that of their children would never be in doubt was sadly not the government’s priority. No one thought of how this lack of foresight or sheer neglect in the early years of this great multitude of people would adversely affect their residence status and generations after them… no one cared.
Many of the Windrush Generation have been scheduled to be deported but sought legal aid and some won their case against deportation. Many testimonials of those who resisted deportation and those who could not can be found in newspapers.
These brothers and sisters either came from the Caribbean as children with their parents or as adults and not illegally, but because BRITAIN asked them to come and be part of the much needed workforce (rail workers, nurses etc…). Upon arrival, they were traumatised to their dismay with inhumane treatment and racial discrimination; Many landlords did not want to rent their accommodation to them because they were black, signs on property literally read “no blacks allowed”.
I quote below from a Guardian article:
Windrush scandal survivors deliver petition to No 10
Windrush scandal survivors deliver petition to No 10
Call to speed up compensation for people wrongly detained and deported by government.19/06/2020
“The Windrush Lessons Learned review, written by Wendy Williams, set out 30 recommendations, including a full review of the hostile environment policy that formed the backdrop to the scandal, and called on ministers and Home Office staff to be educated in Britain’s colonial past. The home secretary, Priti Patel, promised to consider the recommendations in March but has since made no further comment.
Patrick Vernon, the Windrush campaigner who organised the petition, which remains open, said apologies had already been offered by three home secretaries, and it was time for action.
“The Home Office can no longer ignore the true scale of the scandal and its impact on people – from being made homeless or unemployed to being denied access to the NHS or unfairly deported,” he said. “The Home Office must urgently stop any racial discrimination and learn from the lessons published, so this never happens again.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The home secretary has been clear that the mistreatment of the Windrush generation by successive governments was completely unacceptable and she will right those wrongs.” However, they added, Williams had recommended that the Home Office consider the review carefully before responding, “and we are committed to honouring that request”. Patel had said she would update parliament before the summer recess.
Officials in charge of organising the compensation scheme stressed that claimants should not feel discouraged by the difficulties experienced by others and should persist with making claims. A spokesperson said assistance in completing the claim form was available via the free Windrush helpline on 0800 678 1925.”
For the full article click: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/19/windrush-scandal-survivors-deliver-petition-to-no-10
Government website:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/windrush-day-2020-launches-with-500-000-for-communities
