Uncovering the Windrush scandal
Evidence from the Frontline
Our experience, expertise and work on the frontline supporting destitute and homeless migrants led us to identify a trend whereby people who had lawfully lived and worked in the UK for decades were being “locked out”, denied access to employment, accommodation, welfare benefits and healthcare on the basis that they couldn’t prove their residence status. From 2012 onwards we saw growing numbers of long-term residents affected by many policy changes that eventually became the government’s ‘hostile environment’. This requires landlords, banks, employers and welfare providers to run immigration checks before providing services. While these policies are officially aimed at making life difficult for so-called illegal migrants, they also hit longterm lawful residents who simply do not have the documentation required today.
Our role in securing people’s rights
When Guardian journalist Amelia Gentleman started reporting on this issue, Praxis provided her with evidence illustrating the scale of the problem and the trend. We introduced her to some of the people who had been affected by what is now known as the Windrush scandal. Among them was Sylvester Marshall. Sylvester had been made homeless and denied cancer treatment despite having lived and worked lawfully in the UK for over four decades. Once public, the injustices he faced attracted large-scale attention and the Windrush scandal was brought into the political domain. Jeremy Corbyn MP, the leader of the opposition, raised Sylvester’s case twice in the House of Commons during Prime Minister’s Question Time.
Praxis collaborated with national and international media, including the BBC, Sky, Channel 4, Al Jazeera, Reuters, ITV and the Daily Mail, calling for a ‘fast, fair and free’ system to recognise the rights of the victims of the Windrush scandal. We provided expert briefings and evidence from our casework illustrating the effects of the ‘hostile environment’ on many long-term residents. We encouraged those we supported to speak out and share their stories.
Praxis joined forces with other charities discussing this matter with Caribbean High Commissioners and British MPs, whilst the government was refusing to acknowledge that there was a problem. In May Praxis’ CEO Sally Daghlian and Sylvester Marshall were speakers at a pivotal event in parliament: the All Party Parliamentary Group on Race and Community which was attended by more than 20 MPs.
“Mostly people assumed these were weird anomalies where something very specific had gone wrong. I realised how rapidly the problem was growing when the charity Praxis said it was seeing more and more cases every year ”
What’s Changed
The Windrush scandal is still not resolved. Many people affected are still destitute, others still not knowing that there is a way out available. Major problems still exist with our immigration policy and systems. Nevertheless, much has changed since the beginning of 2018.
The then Prime Minister Theresa May apologised for the Windrush scandal and the then Home Secretary Amber Rudd resigned for misleading parliament about deportation targets.
As of August 2020, the special task force set up by the new Home Secretary had granted documents to over 12,500 victims of the Windrush scandal.
The Home Office had set up a review to identify how the Windrush scandal could have happened and the lessons that should be learned. Praxis met with the Independent Adviser to the review and set up a practitioners’ group formed of charities and law firms to feed into it.
A compensation scheme for victims of the Windrush scandal is being established. Praxis supported service users to meet with the QC setting it up to inform its design, in order to make sure that their experiences and opinions were taken into account as the national scheme is created.
More people are aware of the ‘hostile environment’ and its impact on individuals, and people in the UK today have a more positive view of immigration than anytime since 2011.
Recognition of Our Work
We have received widespread recognition as a result of our role in unveiling the Windrush scandal and supporting victims of the ‘hostile environment’. We were shortlisted for a Third Sector Charity Partnership award for this work in collaboration with JCWI, The Runnymede Trust, The Refugee and Migrant Centre and iMix, and we were highly commended by PR Week Award in the Best Cause-Led Campaign category. The Guardian selected Praxis as one of the beneficiaries of its annual Charity Appeal. The paper featured the stories of our service users and gave us the opportunity to raise awareness of other challenges that migrants in the UK are facing.
