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Historical review of detention and removal for the Windrush generation

15 November 2018

The Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Harriet Harman MP, wrote to the Home Secretary Sajid Javid MP on 18 September seeking further information regarding the Home Office's ongoing historical review of detentions and removals for the Windrush generation.

Letter to the Home Office

In the letter to the Home Secretary, the Committee sought clarity around the Home Office's use of a "criminal case types" marker in deciding which files to exclude from the review i.e. whether individuals with convictions (minor or otherwise) would be excluded, or whether the marker would be limited to received custodial sentences.

The Committee wanted to know how many people would be excluded from the review as a result of being marked a "criminal case type".

Home Office response

In the Home Office's response, they concede that they have identified some individuals that have been excluded from the review even if they only a have minor offence/s or have been acquitted or not even prosecuted.

They say that work is now underway to review the previously excluded cases.

This means that the 164 Windrush individuals who were previously identified by the Home Office as having been detained or removed could be greater given that this broad category of people were excluded from the original review.

Home Office struggling to tackle such a serious injustice

The Committee welcome the clarification and expects that all Windrush cases that have the right to be reviewed are done so in a swift and just manner.
 
The Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Harriet Harman said: 

“The Committee's probing of this issue has revealed that windrush people who'd been acquitted of criminal charges, or charged but never prosecuted,  were nonetheless excluded from the Home Office review because they were subject to ‘criminal case markers'."

"This is Home Office blundering in their attempt to sort out a Home Office blunder."

"The Home Office appear to be struggling  to grasp even the fundamentals of tackling such a serious injustice.”

Further information

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