Windrush Scandal: Postcolonial Authoritarian Racism and its Reflection in Contemporary British Immigration and Nationality Law

Abstract

In the aftermath of World War II (WWII), the United Kingdom (UK) government actively encouraged immigration from Caribbean commonwealth countries (the Windrush generation) to address the severe labor shortages. Initially welcomed to contribute to post-war reconstruction of Britain, the Windrush generation has experienced systemic injustices in the UK's nationality and immigration legal system since their arrival which continues to this day. The Windrush generation now even finds itself exposed to the threat of deprivation of citizenship rights. In this context, this article aims to study the link between the Windrush scandal and the postcolonial authoritarian racism within contemporary British nationality and immigration laws. It also highlights the extent to which the current legal framework perpetuates the discriminatory practices and policies against the coloured immigrants. To reach its conclusion, this article employs a doctrinal research methodology which involves a survey of primary and secondary sources on this issue such as statutes, regulations, official reports, policy documents, government publications and scholarly articles. Through a survey of all these sources, the article concludes that the mistreatment of the Windrush generation represents a continuation of the systemic injustices faced by the coloured immigrants generally in the UK. More particularly, the combination of racist legislative policies and fluctuating opinion on immigration provides a perfect storm to allow for these system issues to continue and disregard the basic human rights of the victims of the Windrush scandal and other coloured immigrants.