Arrival records for thousands of the Windrush generation are found

The arrival records for tens of thousands of immigrants from the Windrush generation have been found in the National Archives.

The find strengthen the cases for those trying to prove they are British citizens who were being told they had to leave the UK.

The ledger, found after an investigation by the Financial Times, shows arrivals at ports until 1960 with more than 85,000 people arriving from Caribbean countries.

The arrival records for tens of thousands of immigrants from the Windrush generation have been found in the National Archives. The find strengthen the cases for those trying to prove they are British citizens who were being told they had to leave the UK

These include citizens who arrived from the Caribbean on Empire Windrush in 1948 – it was the ship’s name that would come to define the generation.

The information, compiled by the Board of Trade, could proof vital in helping those under threat claim UK citizenship. 

The Home Office destroyed its cache of landing slips eight years ago, in a bid to up data protection. But the department since rejected applications for UK citizenship because of a lack of evidence to support their arrival date claims.   

The move came despite staff warnings that the move would make it harder to check the records of older Caribbean-born residents experiencing residency difficulties, it was claimed. 

The revealtions come after Prime Minister Theresa May issued her second grovelling apology in two days to the Caribbean migrants threatened with deportation.

The ledger, found after an investigation by the Financial Times, shows arrivals at ports until 1960 with more than 85,000 people arriving from Caribbean countries 

She said Windrush immigrants ‘are British – they are part of us’ and vowed to ensure they can stay in the UK.

She told the House of Commons: ‘And for those who have mistakenly received letters challenging them. I want to apologise to them.’

But Mrs May also revealed that the disastrous decision to shred landing cards that could help prove the right of Windrush immigrants to stay was taken in 2009 by a Labour Government.

The Home Office destroyed its cache of landing slips eight years ago, in a bid to up data protection. But the department since rejected applications for UK citizenship because of a lack of evidence to support their arrival date claims 

The Home Office destroyed its cache of landing slips eight years ago, in a bid to up data protection. But the department since rejected applications for UK citizenship because of a lack of evidence to support their arrival date claims 

Her revelation was met with gasps and shouts from the Tory benches who urged Labour to ‘apologise’ after they had blamed Mrs May for the destruction of the cards, which happened in 2010 when she was Home Secretary.

Her apology, delivered in PMQs, comes as Amber Rudd is today facing calls to quit as Home Secretary over the Windrush fiasco.

Speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the MEP said: ‘Certainly after the Windrush scandal in Britain, we want to be sure that the same is not happening to our European citizens and that there is no bureaucratic nightmare there.’   



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