Diaspora meet with Windrush Task Force

The office of the country’s High Commissioner to Britain has met with the Windrush Task Force and Antiguans and Barbudans affected by the Windrush fallout.
The Windrush scandal was unearthed in April of this year when it emerged that some migrants from Commonwealth countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, who were encouraged to settle in the U.K. from the late 1940s to 1973, were being wrongly categorised as “illegal immigrants.”
News of the move sent shockwaves throughout the Caribbean and the rest of the Commonwealth, with many pundits raising alarm over the decision.
The recategorisation was later reversed.
If the decision to reverse the immigrant status for the Windrush generation had not been made, many people would have been subject to deportation.
A release from the Commission said that four officials from the Task Force were present, and they met with High Commissioner Karen-mae Hill and nationals of the twin island state “to answer general questions and to hold one-on-one consultations as needed.”
Members of the Antigua and Barbuda diaspora, who were present at the meeting, were allowed to explain how they were impacted.
They were also allowed to express their current and future concerns, the Commission said.
Based on the Commission, the Task Force outlined the programmes put in place to support those affected.
The team also “apologised on behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom for the actions of their department which caused persons to suffer.”
(More in today’s Daily Observer)