The Windrush Scandal

There are too many examples for us to publish
here, of people who have been shut out and
hounded by the Home Office as a result of inhuman,
racist immigration policies. But let us take
just one local victim . . . .

After a seven-year ordeal Balvin Marshall has
now been told that he has the right to stay in
the UK; but now he has to build a compensation
case.

Despite losing his job, his home and his entitlements
to benefits/healthcare and sleeping in a
building used as a small warehouse 64-year-old
Balvin Marshall, kept a treasured file of payslips
and letters proving that he had lived in Britain
for 48 years and that he worked for the private
company Enterprise as an Islington Council
roadsweeper.

Among his papers is a copy of Islington Tribune
from 2011 when the paper first told of his plight!
That was seven years ago! This makes us ask
ourselves: did we read this report and “pass on
the other side”?

The Windrush scandal raises questions for all
of us…. we must build our communities, reach
out to those in trouble and create friendly, accessible
local groups. We need to listen and
act!

The Windrush scandal is the subject of our next
Forum meeting on Thursday 21 June, 10.30 am
in Islington Town Hall.