Windrush

The Empire Windrush sailed from Jamaica to Tilbury Docks, Essex arriving on the 22nd June 1948. There were just over 1,000 Caribbean’s on board, invited by the UK government to help rebuild the country after the Second World War. The ‘Windrush Generation’ refers to the British citizens, from the Caribbean, who came to settle in the UK between 1948 and 1973.

The ‘Windrush scandal’ happened because the British government incorrectly told some of the descendants of the Windrush Generation that they didn’t have the legal right to be in the UK. They were ordered to prove their legal status. Although this practise came to the wider public's attention in 2018 it had been happening for years.

People were wrongly deported to the Caribbean or held in detention centres, others lost their jobs and access to NHS treatment – despite working in the UK for years. Many of the individuals had lived in the UK for most of their lives or were born in the UK.

It also came to light that years earlier the Home Office had destroyed landing cards (official documents) they’d held which could have helped some of the people facing deportation, by providing dates to show when they or their families had arrived in the UK. After an enquiry the Windrush Compensation Scheme was set up in 2019. To date not all of the people affected have received compensation.  

The BBC drama ‘Sitting in Limbo’ is inspired by the Windrush scandal and is currently available on BBC iPlayer.

Resources

Check out the Black Cultural Archive (BCA) to listen to stories from the Windrush Generation.  Hear about peoples real life experiences. Click here for more information.