Left-wing enemies
2024-09-26 20:15:00 UTC
By Catarina Demony
LONDON (Reuters) - Britains wrongful detention and deportation of
Caribbean migrants was the result of decades of racist immigration laws
designed to reduce the countrys non-white population, a long-withheld
official report showed on Thursday.
Known as the Windrush scandal, the revelations of the mistreatment of
thousands of Caribbean people damaged the authority of former British
prime minister Theresa May, who had led efforts to tackle illegal
immigration when she led the interior ministry, or Home Office.
Hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Caribbean came to Britain
between 1948 and 1971 on ships such as the Empire Windrush to fill labour
shortages in post-war Britain.
In 2018, Britain had to apologise for its treatment of the "Windrush
generation", after a tightening of immigration policy meant thousands were
denied basic rights despite having lived in Britain for decades and dozens
were wrongly deported.
Britain's previous Conservative government in 2022 refused to publish the
"The Historical Roots of the Windrush Scandal" report, rejecting requests
under the Freedom of Information Act.
The report, now released by the newly elected Labour government, found
that between 1950 and 1981 "every single piece" of immigration or
citizenship legislation was designed at least in part to reduce the number
of Black people allowed to live and work in Britain.
"Major immigration legislation in 1962, 1968 and 1971 was designed to
reduce the proportion of people living in the UK who did not have white
skin," the report said, describing the Windrush scandal as "deep-rooted
racism".
The research, commissioned by the Home Office in response to a government
review of the scandal published in 2020, draws on hundreds of files at the
country's National Archives, oral history interviews and hundreds of
conversations with Home Office staff.
The report, which doesn't make any recommendations, also concluded the
lives of Black people and other ethnic minorities in Britain were
"profoundly shaped" by the British empire.
Britain said in 2018 it would compensate some Caribbean immigrants
affected by the scandal.
"Gradually, the politics of race and immigration became intertwined," the
report said. "Even when slavery was finally abolished in 1833, the belief
that Black people were either not entitled to or else incapable of equal
status with white people within the British Empire remained intact."
(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britains-racist-immigration-laws-led-
wrongful-deportations-black-people-report-2024-09-26/
There is nothing racist about keeping unwanted people from illegally
entering or invading a country.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britains wrongful detention and deportation of
Caribbean migrants was the result of decades of racist immigration laws
designed to reduce the countrys non-white population, a long-withheld
official report showed on Thursday.
Known as the Windrush scandal, the revelations of the mistreatment of
thousands of Caribbean people damaged the authority of former British
prime minister Theresa May, who had led efforts to tackle illegal
immigration when she led the interior ministry, or Home Office.
Hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Caribbean came to Britain
between 1948 and 1971 on ships such as the Empire Windrush to fill labour
shortages in post-war Britain.
In 2018, Britain had to apologise for its treatment of the "Windrush
generation", after a tightening of immigration policy meant thousands were
denied basic rights despite having lived in Britain for decades and dozens
were wrongly deported.
Britain's previous Conservative government in 2022 refused to publish the
"The Historical Roots of the Windrush Scandal" report, rejecting requests
under the Freedom of Information Act.
The report, now released by the newly elected Labour government, found
that between 1950 and 1981 "every single piece" of immigration or
citizenship legislation was designed at least in part to reduce the number
of Black people allowed to live and work in Britain.
"Major immigration legislation in 1962, 1968 and 1971 was designed to
reduce the proportion of people living in the UK who did not have white
skin," the report said, describing the Windrush scandal as "deep-rooted
racism".
The research, commissioned by the Home Office in response to a government
review of the scandal published in 2020, draws on hundreds of files at the
country's National Archives, oral history interviews and hundreds of
conversations with Home Office staff.
The report, which doesn't make any recommendations, also concluded the
lives of Black people and other ethnic minorities in Britain were
"profoundly shaped" by the British empire.
Britain said in 2018 it would compensate some Caribbean immigrants
affected by the scandal.
"Gradually, the politics of race and immigration became intertwined," the
report said. "Even when slavery was finally abolished in 1833, the belief
that Black people were either not entitled to or else incapable of equal
status with white people within the British Empire remained intact."
(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britains-racist-immigration-laws-led-
wrongful-deportations-black-people-report-2024-09-26/
There is nothing racist about keeping unwanted people from illegally
entering or invading a country.