To make matters worse, reports surfaced that the UK government destroyed landing cards, which would’ve been filled out by Windrush migrants on their arrival into Britain, in 2010. However, UK prime minister Theresa May said that while the Home Office did dispose of the landing cards as part of an office move, which complies with data protection laws, it was actually the Labour government that took that decision.
Windrush migrants say the landing cards would’ve helped to prove their arrival dates but the Home Office said the cards were not considered as definitive evidence of continuous residence in the UK. It advised that employment and school records were a more reliable method.
A number of Windrush arrivals are already reporting “harrowing experiences” of trying to prove their status despite living in the UK legally for half a century, according to The Guardian. Children of the Windrush generation who are now pensioners have been put in detention centers, lost their jobs, made homeless, told they are not entitled to welfare, and have even been denied access to cancer care with the National Health Service.
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