The UK government has now started a crackdown on Windrush Britons (Caribbean Natives), in their campaign for tightening immigration.
This episode has again highlighted the fallout of xenophobic attitudes that is catching up across the 1st world.
What are the Windrush Generation being subjected to?
About half a million people (Windrush Generation) were shipped from the Caribbean islands to the U.K. since late 1940s, to meet the labour shortfall.
The name “Windrush” has been coined after one the many vessels that ferried them to UK in the 1960s and 70s, to offset the shortage of labour in UK.
Under pressure from Brexit hardliners, the UK is now hard pressed to meet stringent annual net immigration curbs and deportation of illegal migrants.
The Windrush Caribbean Brits (and their children) have now fallen victims to this immigration curbs, and risk deportation despite have lived in UK for long.
Notably, the Windrush Caribbeans aren’t illegal migrants but are now in the line of fire for lack of sufficient documentation indicating their legality.
They are asked to provide proof of residence in UK that predates 1971 (which is the cut-off), which isn’t available with most of them.
Inability to furnish such evidence is leading to job losses, threat of deportation, withdrawal of welfare benefits and even denial of critical medi-care.
All these are proving to be enormously traumatic for the concerned families who are now being alienated in the country where they’ve lived for long.
What are the implications for UK?
As the UK is exiting the EU, it currently is hoping to negotiate trade deals with the countries in the British Commonwealth to offset the loss of markets.
But the “Windrush Saga” has created discomfort within the commonwealth, as the Caribbean Countries are a part of it (as they were British Colonies).
While the current crackdown has targeted the Caribbeans, there is palpable fear that others across the commonwealth will follow suit.
Notably, there are considerable populations of Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and West Africans in UK.
The anxiety is high as the UK government’s approach doesn’t seem to differentiate between systemic shortcoming and real frivolous immigrations.
British PM May’s cautious apology for the same (claiming that Windrush Saga was a mere aberration) amounted to too little too late.
What is the larger learning?
Windrush controversy has typified the inability of governments to manage the political fallout from the current phase of globalisation and liberalisation.
This is especially true of the EU, which has enshrined the free movement of people as a fundamental principle.
Notably, EU’s 2004 expansion into the countries of the erstwhile Soviet Union afforded nations in Western Europe cheap immigrant labour.
But the process gave a fillip to xenophobic parties of the extreme right across the region, threatening to halt immigration.
It is this factor that precipitated Brexit in 2016, which narrowly won the vote despite the mainstream parties largely opposing a breakaway from EU.
