We Need To Put The Heat Back On The Home Office: Windrush Lawyer
8 February 2019, 16:42
A lawyer representing a number of Windrush victims says she is concerned by the time taken for the Home Office to respond to claims of financial hardship.
Jacqui McKenzie told Shelagh Fogarty that "a number of people are seriously affected" and have become "destitute" as a result of what happened to them under the Windrush issue.
"They lost employment rights, some of them lost homes, and in the cases of a couple of people I'm dealing with were wrongfully denied entry back into the UK and one person was wrongfully asked to leave the country."
Ms McKenzie also described how "astounded" she was to find that only one person had been helped by the dedicated hardship fund by the end of 2018.
"People really are suffering," she said.
"The fund is for hardship, so I would have thought that as a result of the Home Office you've lost your home, or your job, and you have no money, the fact that you've been brought back states that the government is culpable.
"So there's no question as to whether you're going to be liable to some sort of compensation.
"I understand that the government has to set up a scheme that's tight and transparent, but I am concerned that it is taking so long.
"And I'm also concerned that people who are going to get payments from the hardship fund, are nitpicking."
