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| MPs condemn Home Office over detained Windrush pair | MPs condemn Home Office over detained Windrush pair |
| (6 months later) | |
| The Home Office behaved in a “shocking” manner towards two Windrush citizens, Paulette Wilson and Anthony Bryan, who were wrongly sent to immigration detention centres before planned removals from the UK, despite them being continuously resident for around 50 years, a committee of MPs and peers has ruled. | The Home Office behaved in a “shocking” manner towards two Windrush citizens, Paulette Wilson and Anthony Bryan, who were wrongly sent to immigration detention centres before planned removals from the UK, despite them being continuously resident for around 50 years, a committee of MPs and peers has ruled. |
| The Home Office displayed an “inadequate regard for the human rights” of those wrongly detained as a result of immigration enforcement, the report by the joint committee on human rights concluded. | The Home Office displayed an “inadequate regard for the human rights” of those wrongly detained as a result of immigration enforcement, the report by the joint committee on human rights concluded. |
| Home Office pays out £21m after mistakenly detaining 850 people | |
| Harriet Harman, the committee’s chair, said: “What happened to these two people was a total violation of their human rights by the state’s most powerful government department. It needs to face up to what happened before it can even begin to acknowledge the scale of the problem and stop it happening again.” | Harriet Harman, the committee’s chair, said: “What happened to these two people was a total violation of their human rights by the state’s most powerful government department. It needs to face up to what happened before it can even begin to acknowledge the scale of the problem and stop it happening again.” |
| The detention of Bryan and Wilson was likely to have been the result of “a systemic failure”, the report found. Officials had given “no credible explanation” as to why they were wrongfully detained, nor had they explained why Home Office employees ignored repeated statements from both individuals making clear they had been in the UK since childhood and should not be deported. | The detention of Bryan and Wilson was likely to have been the result of “a systemic failure”, the report found. Officials had given “no credible explanation” as to why they were wrongfully detained, nor had they explained why Home Office employees ignored repeated statements from both individuals making clear they had been in the UK since childhood and should not be deported. |
| Bryan, a painter and decorator, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that his problems with the Home Office began in 2015 when he applied for a passport to visit his ill mother in Jamaica. | Bryan, a painter and decorator, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that his problems with the Home Office began in 2015 when he applied for a passport to visit his ill mother in Jamaica. |
| “When I checked out [of the Passport Office] they said I was illegal,” he said. “Then Capita started phoning me telling me the same thing, and one thing led to another and I was locked up. They released me as suddenly as they arrested me, and then in 2017 they arrested me again.” | “When I checked out [of the Passport Office] they said I was illegal,” he said. “Then Capita started phoning me telling me the same thing, and one thing led to another and I was locked up. They released me as suddenly as they arrested me, and then in 2017 they arrested me again.” |
| He said he lived a “nightmare” as officials ignored him when he told them he had been in the UK since he was eight and that he had been issued with a national insurance number when he was 16. “So how could I be illegal?” he asked, adding that he had paid taxes for 37 years. | He said he lived a “nightmare” as officials ignored him when he told them he had been in the UK since he was eight and that he had been issued with a national insurance number when he was 16. “So how could I be illegal?” he asked, adding that he had paid taxes for 37 years. |
| “They gave me plane tickets to send me back to Jamaica, a country where I didn’t know no street,” he said, before describing how his time in detention had broken him because it coincided with the recent death of his son. “I was ready to go back to a country that I didn’t know because I didn’t see any other choice. I just wanted to get out of the cell.” | “They gave me plane tickets to send me back to Jamaica, a country where I didn’t know no street,” he said, before describing how his time in detention had broken him because it coincided with the recent death of his son. “I was ready to go back to a country that I didn’t know because I didn’t see any other choice. I just wanted to get out of the cell.” |
| He said he had been unable to work for the past two and a half years and that he had not received any compensation. | He said he had been unable to work for the past two and a half years and that he had not received any compensation. |
| An analysis of Wilson and Bryan’s case files showed that officials “discounted ample information” from lawyers, MPs and people who had known the individuals for decades and who offered “consistent and clear” evidence that should have prevented them from being detained. | An analysis of Wilson and Bryan’s case files showed that officials “discounted ample information” from lawyers, MPs and people who had known the individuals for decades and who offered “consistent and clear” evidence that should have prevented them from being detained. |
| Both files showed that protestations from the families were not heeded, representations by MPs failed to elevate concerns, and that the numerous people involved in the handling of each file all proceeded with the wrongful detention of those individuals, the committee found. | Both files showed that protestations from the families were not heeded, representations by MPs failed to elevate concerns, and that the numerous people involved in the handling of each file all proceeded with the wrongful detention of those individuals, the committee found. |
| “None of the safeguards to prevent wrongful detention worked,” the report stated. | “None of the safeguards to prevent wrongful detention worked,” the report stated. |
| The Home Office told the committee that the detentions were the result of “a series of mistakes over a period of time”, but officials were unable to give the committee details of any action that had been taken to stop such mistakes recurring. “We did not find that explanation credible or sufficient. We take the view that there was in all likelihood a systemic failure,” the report concluded. | The Home Office told the committee that the detentions were the result of “a series of mistakes over a period of time”, but officials were unable to give the committee details of any action that had been taken to stop such mistakes recurring. “We did not find that explanation credible or sufficient. We take the view that there was in all likelihood a systemic failure,” the report concluded. |
| The committee has asked for the Home Office to release files of the 63 Windrush citizens wrongly detained and deported so that it can establish whether mistakes were made or whether this was part of a wider systemic problem. | The committee has asked for the Home Office to release files of the 63 Windrush citizens wrongly detained and deported so that it can establish whether mistakes were made or whether this was part of a wider systemic problem. |
| The home secretary, Sajid Javid, has acknowledged that the treatment of Bryan and Wilson was “appalling and wrong in so many ways”. | The home secretary, Sajid Javid, has acknowledged that the treatment of Bryan and Wilson was “appalling and wrong in so many ways”. |
| The committee has called on the Home Office to review its use of detention for immigration purposes and has called for a more humane approach to dealing with people who come into contact with the immigration enforcement system. | The committee has called on the Home Office to review its use of detention for immigration purposes and has called for a more humane approach to dealing with people who come into contact with the immigration enforcement system. |
| The shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, said: “This report is a damning indictment of how the government’s hostile environment policy led to the Windrush scandal, with our own citizens being illegally detained or even deported from this country. It is clear beyond any doubt that these were not isolated mistakes or the product of a few over-zealous officials. | The shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, said: “This report is a damning indictment of how the government’s hostile environment policy led to the Windrush scandal, with our own citizens being illegally detained or even deported from this country. It is clear beyond any doubt that these were not isolated mistakes or the product of a few over-zealous officials. |
| “We know now that there were deportation targets and even that bonuses were paid for meeting them. Theresa May is the author of this policy, and her government still has not come clean about the full extent of the harm it has caused.” | “We know now that there were deportation targets and even that bonuses were paid for meeting them. Theresa May is the author of this policy, and her government still has not come clean about the full extent of the harm it has caused.” |
| The Home Office said it had offered personal apologies to Bryan and Wilson “and has been clear that the Home Office must learn from the wrongs experienced by them and other members of the Windrush generation”. | The Home Office said it had offered personal apologies to Bryan and Wilson “and has been clear that the Home Office must learn from the wrongs experienced by them and other members of the Windrush generation”. |
| It said it had issued more than 2,000 documents confirming people’s settled status and was committed to setting up a compensation scheme. | It said it had issued more than 2,000 documents confirming people’s settled status and was committed to setting up a compensation scheme. |
| “But we know that it is equally important that we ensure that nothing like this can happen again,” a spokesperson continued. “That is why we are carrying out historical reviews of detention and removals and have commissioned an independent lessons learned review.” | “But we know that it is equally important that we ensure that nothing like this can happen again,” a spokesperson continued. “That is why we are carrying out historical reviews of detention and removals and have commissioned an independent lessons learned review.” |
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