Bangladeshi-origin people seeking to confirm their right to British citizenship under the Windrush scheme set up by the UK government continues to rise over a year after the immigration scandal hit the headlines.
As many as 67 people of Bangladeshi descent were listed in the latest UK Home Office update on the functioning of the scheme to counter the negative impact of the immigration scandal.
According to UK home secretary Priti Patel's official letter this week, a majority of the 67 Bangladeshis had arrived in the UK before 1973, when the immigration rules had changed, while the others either arrived later or were a family member of the so-called “Windrush generation”. The figure has increased considerably since just 23 recorded earlier this year.
“The launch and delivery of the compensation scheme is an important step in righting the wrongs experienced by some members of the Windrush generation who had difficulties demonstrating their lawful right to live in the UK,” said Patel in her Windrush update to Parliament.
“It is important to note that the scheme goes beyond members of the Caribbean Commonwealth. We have held productive Roundtables with key stakeholders, including the Windrush Commemorative Committee, together with Civil Society groups, who are working with communities that have been directly affected,” she said.
The Windrush generation refers to citizens of former British colonies who arrived before 1973 when the rights of such Commonwealth citizens to live and work in Britain were substantially curtailed. While a large proportion of them was of Caribbean descent who came on the ship Windrush, Bangladeshis and other South Asians were also affected by the UK government’s handling of their immigration status.
The UK Home Office had set up a Windrush Taskforce in April 2018 to deal with a backlog of thousands of such cases, with the Home Secretary committed to providing regular updates to the Parliament’s Home Affairs Select Committee Chair, Yvette Cooper, on the progress of the scheme.
In her latest update since taking charge at the Home Office from Sajid Javid, Patel confirmed that 8,124 individuals have been granted some form of documentation by the Windrush Taskforce as of September this year.
She had recently also announced a new Windrush Advisory Panel to maximise the number of people applying to the Windrush Compensation Scheme.
“The Windrush generation were failed by successive governments and I want to ensure we reach all those affected through the Windrush Compensation Scheme through direct community engagement,” she said.
The government is running an awareness campaign to inform people that the scheme is open to almost anyone from a Commonwealth country who arrived and settled in the UK before 1973. Certain children and grandchildren of those arriving before 1973 and some close family members may also be eligible to apply.