In the wake of recent racist and Islamophobic riots in the United Kingdom, the United Nations’ anti-racism body has issued a report on the UK’s record addressing racial discrimination. In it, the UN urged the UK government to finally right the wrongs committed against Black Britons from the Windrush generation and the Chagossian people as part of a broader effort to tackle rights violations rooted in systemic racism.
UN experts echoed concerns regarding the government’s response to the “Windrush Scandal” and its ongoing impact on the Windrush generation and their descendants.
The “Windrush” generation were people invited to the UK from predominantly former colonies to help rebuild after World War II. In 2018, media stories uncovered that the government’s “hostile environment” policy saw their British citizenship questioned, leading to thousands being wrongfully detained, threatened with deportation, and denied basic rights, including losing their access to housing, health care, and bank accounts.
The previous UK government apologized to the Windrush generation, set up a compensation scheme, and commissioned a lessons learned review. But now six years later, many claimants are still awaiting compensation. The previous government had also dropped key recommendations from this review.
The UN experts found that the compensation scheme’s “complexity … creates undue burden on the claimants” and recommended the government simplify it to ensure fair, prompt, and effective access to compensation, calling on the UK government to implement all 30 recommendations of the Windrush review.
The UN experts also reiterated the government’s “lack of progress on withdrawing all discriminatory restrictions” on allowing the return of Chagossians to the Chagos islands.
The Chagossians are an Indigenous people who were forcibly displaced by the UK and US governments from the Chagos islands in the Indian Ocean over 50 years ago, as part of Britain’s continued colonial rule, to build a military base, actions amounting to crimes against humanity. The UK has refused to allow the Chagossians to return or engaged meaningfully with them despite current negotiations with Mauritius over their homeland, following an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice.
The UN experts urged the government to “hold full and meaningful consultations with the Chagossians […] to facilitate their return to their islands and to provide them with an effective remedy, including compensation.”
On August 14, the new UK government had responded to questions from the UN body, committing to addressing racial discrimination, including righting injustices against the Windrush generation and working to “support new Chagossian arrivals,” but neglected to recognize their right to return, stating it was a “priority to resolve the issue.” Giving effect to these important commitments should start with listening to the Windrush generation and the calls of the Chagossians to be allowed to return home.
