Immigration row: May tenders apology to leaders

LONDON: ACCORDING TO THE OXFORD MIGRATION OBSERVATORY, THERE ARE 57,000 PEOPLE IN THE UK WHO ARRIVED BEFORE 1973 TO MEET LABOUR SHORTAGES.

Facing a barrage of criticism, Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday apologised for the harsh treatment of Commonwealth citizens who migrated to Britain after World War 2 and were recently told they were here illegally and faced deportation.

The issue blew up after several individuals — who arrived here after 1948 with their parents, lived and worked for decades — were told by immigration officials they could be detained and deported since they did not have documents to support their indefinite stay.

Under immigration rules then in force, people who came from Caribbean countries, India and elsewhere before 1973 to meet labour shortages in Britain were entitled to stay permanently. The rules changed in the following decades due to growing concern over immigration.

All the cases that have emerged so far are of people from Caribbean countries, but campaign group Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants said that “on a daily basis here at JCWI, we were coming across cases of Australian, Nigerian, Canadian and South African, Indian and Pakistan-born citizens facing the same problem”.

May told leaders from Caribbean countries, here for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, “I take this issue very seriously. The home secretary apologised in the House of Commons yesterday for any anxiety caused. And I want to apologise to you today. Because we are genuinely sorry for any anxiety that has been caused.

“Those who arrived from the Caribbean before 1973 and lived here permanently, without significant periods of time away in the last 30 years, have the right to remain, as do the vast majority of long-term residents who arrived later. I don’t want anybody to be in any doubt about their right to remain here in the UK.”