London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 17, 2025

Windrush survivors cry out for long-overdue compensation from UK

Windrush survivors cry out for long-overdue compensation from UK

Survivors of the UK’s Windrush scandal, which saw thousands of UK residents-most of whom were originally from the Caribbean-wrongly classed as illegal immigrants say they will continue to fight for compensation from the UK.

As a result of the scandal, thousands of afro-Caribbean people and others were wrongly being denied healthcare, housing or the right to work, including being held detained or deported by immigration officials.

Persons were denied access to social services


Some persons were granted indefinite leave to remain in 1971, but thousands were children who had traveled on their parents' passports.

Due to this, many of the children were unable to prove they had the right to live in the UK when "hostile environment" immigration policies - demanding documentation be shown - began in 2012.

In a BBC report, one survivor of the Windrush scandal has said he and others will continue to fight for compensation, as MPs call for the Home Office to be stripped of running the payment scheme.

Mr Samuels was eight when he moved from Jamaica to the UK in 1964, after his parents came to "rebuild Britain", he said. He told BBC Breakfast he had been shocked to receive letters telling him he could no longer work and he had to leave.

"After 55 years in the UK, working and doing positive good, then the Home Office letter [arrived] telling me I'm an illegal immigrant and giving me six weeks to leave the country", he said.

Johnny Samuels suggested the Home Office could be waiting for survivors to die before they were compensated as most of whom applied had yet to get a penny, after some four years since the scandal emerged, a Home Affairs Committee report said.


Ordered to leave the UK


The "embarrassment" of being ordered to leave the country while he was at work is a "stigma [that] doesn't go away" he said, adding that colleagues believed he was an illegal immigrant.

Johnny Samuels suggested the Home Office could be waiting for survivors to die before they were compensated as most of whom applied had yet to get a penny, after some four years since the scandal emerged, a Home Affairs Committee report said.

Mr Samuels said he was "still in limbo" when it came to receiving compensation, adding: "It really makes you wonder, is this carrot real, is it going to happen before we're put into the grave, and I think that sometimes that is what the Home Office is waiting for."

"Justice delayed is not going to be justice denied" Samuels further said, adding that Windrush survivor would "keeping fighting until our last breath", even if this meant marching in the streets.

On Monday, September 7, 2020, during an interview with 284 Media, then Governor of the Virgin Islands, Augustus J. U. Jaspert said paying reparations to the Virgin Islands for acts of slavery and the slave trade is not the position of the UK at the moment while calling for relics of slavery to be preserved in the Territory.


No reparations for VI - Ex-Governor Jaspert


The struggles of the Windrush survivors comes as the UK has also denied paying perorations to the descendants of slaves in places like the Virgin Islands.

On Monday, September 7, 2020, during an interview with 284 Media, then Governor of the Virgin Islands, Augustus J. U. Jaspert said paying reparations to the Virgin Islands for acts of slavery and the slave trade is not the position of the UK at the moment while calling for relics of slavery to be preserved in the Territory.

His statements, deemed insensitive and even racist by some, infuriated many in the Virgin Islands. Some commentators condemned the remarks and even called for an apology.

While the UK has not paid reparation to the descendants and victims of slaves, up until 2015 the UK paid reparations to the owners of slaves after the abolition of slavery.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
×