£1.5m fund opened to encourage 'fearful' Windrush victims to seek compensation

A £1.5m fund has been launched to encourage people affected by the Windrush scandal to apply to the Home Office for compensation.

- Amelia Gentleman

The move is acknowledgment that many victims have felt too nervous to engage with officials from the department behind the scandal.

Since the compensation fund was launched in 2019 it has been the subject of intense criticism over long processing delays, low offers of payment and the lack of legal aid.

The minister for migration and citizenship, Seema Malhotra, said officials now recognised that some of those affected by the Home Office debacle, which classified thousands of legal UK residents as immigration offenders, had felt unwilling to engage with the department. That led to some choosing not to make compensation claims.

The new fund is aimed at reassuring people who feel wary about contacting the Home Office to request documentation showing their immigration status is in order.

"People are very fearful about coming forward to the status schemes or the compensation scheme, because of the traumatising nature of their experiences, so that it still feels too raw to be able to approach the Home Office," Malhotra said.