Four months after the publication of Wendy Williams’ “Windrush Lessons Learned Review,” it seems little has been done by the Home Office to amend what Williams coins a culture of “institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness on race issues”. Echoes of the Windrush Scandal and remnants of the Home Office’s Hostile Environment policy have recently come to light following the proposed deportation of London-born twins Darren and Darrel Roberts.
A legacy of what the Conservative party recognises as “administrative errors” has resulted in the children of the Windrush Generation feeling the full force of the governments’ Hostile Environment Policy. Failed attempts at providing citizenship documents to those arriving into the UK from the Commonwealth between 1948-1973 has left successive generations in a state of limbo – deprived of evidence to support their rightful residence in the UK. The Hostile Environment Policy was enacted in 2012 as a set of legislative and administrative measures aimed at curbing net-migration figures - a policy fuelled by pan-European fear of immigration. Labour MP David Lammy has criticised this policy since its introduction for disproportionately targeting those of Afro-Caribbean descent.
INFRINGING ON THE ICCPR
The Home Office’s strict criteria and subsequent deportation of all those unable to prove citizenship or accused of criminal activity set the stage for widespread human rights abuse. Unwarranted arrest, detention, and restricted access to public services illustrate a few of the ways in which the incumbent government has breached articles 9 and 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Albert Thompson arrived in the UK as a child from the Commonwealth, and has since worked in London for 44 years. In March 2018 he was contacted by the Home Office and asked to produce proof of his residency. Unable to acquire such paperwork, he was eventually made financially liable for his cancer treatment, despite being a tax-paying citizen. Fortunately, due to what he has termed “media noise,” his charges were revoked, and he was able to proceed with his necessary treatment.
TWIN PROSECUTION
Fast forward to 7 July 2020 and we see history repeating itself. The Home Office declared the deportation of twins Darren and Darrel Roberts (respectively to the Dominican Republic and Grenada) a matter of public safety. A childhood marked by the premature death of their mother and uncle resulted in the twins’ unstable education among different foster homes. As minors, they were convicted of grievous bodily harm and are likely to face deportation once their sentences come to an end. This resulted in the both twins qualifying for the government’s automatic deportation program, which fails to assess the complete picture of each individual case. Previously, this has resulted in the deportation of individuals such as 23-year-old Tajay Thompson – who spent seven months in prison after being convicted for possession and intent to supply class A drugs. This policy has been criticised as it prevents people from successfully rehabilitating due to the lack of social security and recovery programs in place.
UN data states that the Caribbean nation of Jamaica had a murder rate of 47 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2016. Furthermore, in 2019 the Guardian reported that five men were killed in Jamaica following deportation - leading Labour MP David Lammy to state a need to “press pause” on deportations to Jamaica and, more broadly, to the Caribbean. With both twins paying their debt to society by serving time in prison, it begs the question: why should they be subject to further unwarranted punishment? The issue here is two-fold: an inadequate social service system combined with the tacit continuation of the Conservative’s Hostile Environment. Thus, the UK ispermeated by xenophobic and racialised immigration policy that disproportionately targets the Afro-Caribbean minority identity group.
LOOKING AHEAD
It is necessary to rectify the implementation gap of the current mechanisms in place, such as the Compensation Scheme and Windrush Taskforce, which were created to swiftly right the wrongdoings of the Windrush Scandal. This alone is not enough - it is imperative to review and look to disband the automatic deportation regime in order to inhibit unfounded detention and extradition. Ultimately, the operational practice of the Home Office must be improved through the development of ethical guidelines or a decision making framework.
Ideally, this will prevent the infringement of core human rights and maintain the principles of fairness and humanity that must be afforded to all citizens of the world.
Rohan is an incoming Security Studies Masters student at UCL, aspiring to work within the Civil Service. His research interests include; politics and elections in Africa, ethnonational secession movements, and developmental economics. Whilst at Exeter University we co-founded ExeForRefugees- a project and fundraising campaign raising awareness for the plight of refugees within Europe and the successive human rights abuses resultant to this crisis.