Newcastle marked the 75th anniversary of Windrush during refugee week with a family fun day, parade and a message of solidarity to migrant communities.
"Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here" rang out around Newcastle this afternoon as the parade made its way from Charlotte Square to Monument in the centre of Newcastle. Organised by the North of England Refugee Service, a rally was also held at Monument where speakers took to the microphone, including those with lived experiences of the asylum system, and political figures such as MP Chi Onwurah and North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll.
Windrush is named after the HMT Empire Windrush, the first boat which brought migrants from the Caribbean. As the Caribbean was part of the British commonwealth, those who arrived were automatically British subjects who were free to live and work in the UK permanently.
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The term is more broadly applied to the "Windrush Generation", people from Caribbean countries who arrived between 1948 and 1973. However, the event in Newcastle aimed to celebrate refugees, no matter their nationality.
Josephine Mudzingwa-Siziba, councillor for Benton Ward, came to the UK as a refugee from Zimbabwe. She was elected as the first-ever Black councillor in North Tyneside at the May 2022 elections.
Josephine told ChronicleLive: "It's very important for me to recognise refugees and to recognise the Windrush generation. I'd like people to recognise refugees because I'm one of them.
"The way people treat you, being called names like scroungers, lazy, don't want to work, things like that. People do no understand that the people who are refugees are coming from normal houses, they have normal jobs.
"I was a nurse with 13 years experience and I wasn't allowed to work. I feel that somebody must educate people."
While the event was a celebration, speakers criticised the Government's controversial Illegal Migration Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament. The bill could see those who arrive in the UK through "unauthorised means" to be removed and returned to their home country or to a third country such as Rwanda.
Speakers also highlighted that many who were eligible for the Windrush compensation scheme, which was set up after many British citizens were wrongly detained or deported, had still not received the compensation they are entitled to. The most up-to-date figures, obtained by the PA News Agency, show that of the 2,138 claims in progress, 302 had been in the system for at least 12 months, including 154 for more than 18 months.
Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, said: "The reason it's really important to celebrate is because we weren't celebrating that for so many years that so a hostile government could take advantage of the silence around the Windrush generation, could take advantage of that to treat the generation that we owe so much with so much contempt.
"The fact that members of the Windrush generation were deported when they had full rights to be here, many had paid into our tax system for decade and they were deported, they were not allowed to live, they were not allowed to earn money, they were not allowed to work on some occasions.
"And now, years after that scandal was identified, so many still have not had the compensation they so richly deserve."
The Home Office has said the Government is “honouring its Windrush commitments and providing support to those affected every day”, adding that the compensation scheme “will stay open as long as needed”. However, this week it was reported that the Home Office unit set up with responsibility for reforming the department in the wake of the scandal is to be disbanded.
