Migration, Reparations & Human Rights
@leighday_law
Caribbean & Latin American histories & societies, & founder & curator of the Voices of Windrush Festival
1/7 To help me write my autobiography, Conservative Campaign HQs prepared 4 pages of a dossier on me, my cases & membership of organisations, & sent it to the Sunday Sun, Express, Mail & Telegraph; A couple kindly sent me the dossier. What was interesting about it, is that over
4/4 rapport about our lives & travels, my work, his as an engineer who built roads in Nigeria, a classical pianist,singer & competitor in the 1956 Olympics. Instead, we were seperated by more than just walls, fences & hedges, but by attitude. I regret this & miss him already. RIP
Mama: "doh worry bout dem & dey foolishness, dey won't stop we carnival."
A couple years off 90 but with more energy than me; I struggled to stop her joining the crowds.
#NottingHillCarnival2023
is a beautiful celebration of multicultural Britain, inspired by the Windrush Gen.
My opinion piece in today's Guardian. Thank you to everyone for your continued support.
I’m an immigration lawyer, and now the target of a Braverman smear campaign. It will backfire | Jacqueline McKenzie
7/7 my client's are adequately represented & on that, there's no compromise. CCHQ's move was nasty, with racist overtones; It will, as it is designed to, cause hate. But the response is reassuring. Most people in the UK are fair, decent & able to distinguish fact from mischief.
1/4 A neighbour has died & today I went to pay my respects to his lovely wife. He was never warm & we'd had a few words over music at our garden parties. I thought he was grumpy & sometimes that he might be racist. We never spoke much except for when he'd get locked out & need to
On turning down an
#OBE
, Benjamin Zephaniah (RIP) wrote "Up yours, I thought ... I get angry when I hear that word 'empire'; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised..."
The
#Jamaica
deport charter flight 2021 left in the early hours of this morning. The
#homeoffice
originally presented the Jamaican authorities with a list of 90 people they wanted to deport including many who came to the UK as children. After much work by the Jamaican High
Black parents often look on with fear that our children get overlooked. But this heartbreaking scene is so distressing & hard to understand that I've written to
#GymnasticsIreland
, like many of you, for an explanation. Let's do something for this aspiring & beautiful gymnast.
Welcome to Ireland where people get away with racism! This little black girl broke my heart. Don’t skip this post without leaving a million heart for her. Make her famous…
Saddened to hear of today's death of Paulette Wilson who arrived in the UK in 1968, aged 10, but became a victim of the Windrush scandal - told she had no rights of residency, she was detained in an IRC. Paulette took on the fight for justice for others. May she rest in peace.
Solidarity with
#DianeAbbott
& all women of colour under attack by racists & misogynists in the UK.
But let me tell you perpetrators something, we are here, we are rising, & though you put us at risk whilst facing little repercussions, we won't be cowed & we will fight back.
2/7 90% of my work for the past 5 years has been in response to the government's mismanagement of the Windrush Scandal. CCHQ missed this! That said, they did find a deport case of a man with a serious conviction, but didn't say they've just paid him damages, that he'd been in the
6/7 education project I set up in 2008.
Thank you for your overwhelming support yesterday. It was widespread & across the spectrum. And yes, despite the sinister intent, there was some moments of humour, not least that interview on LBC. I'm a lawyer. My role is to ensure that
5/7 I was an independent advisor to the Windrush Lessons Learned Review set up by Sajid Javid MP. If they'd looked beyond their agenda, they might have found that I'm a serial committee member & organiser, be it on the PTA, the school governing body or a little supplementary
4/7 disparities with a view to looking at what issues need addressing. They didn't recall that the Conservatives undertook a similar exercise under Lord Dr Tony Sewell. Oddly, their researchers didn't find that I was on the Windrush Working Group set up by Priti Patel MP, or that
3/7 UK since the age of 9 & that Priti Patel MP had negotiated with the Jamaican government not to remove anyone who'd been in the UK before the age of 10, for a deport charter. They did find that I'm a trustee of Detention Action & on Labour's working group looking at racial
Remember the story of 11 year old Raheem Bailey who suffered terrible racist tanuts & lost a finger whilst fleeing bullies at his school in Wales. Today Martin Forde KC, our counsel, met with Raheem, his mum & Leigh Day's, Frances Swaine; I think we have another KC in the making.
3/4 to learn today that he was aware of my work on the Windrush Scandal & respected this. A close proximity death is always sad, moreso for the surviving family. But today I was additionally saddened by the fact that for almost 2 decades, we missed out on a relationship, on a
2/4 climb our fence, when I let my decorators fix his guttering at my expense to his shock & when he offered to cut our hedge to our shock. We exchanged Christmas cards & I reached out during the pandemic, but I didn't think he knew anything about us or our work. I was surprised
1/12 Late last night, Radio 4 invited me to be interviewed this morning to discuss the current accusation of racism in the Royal family. With minutes to go, I was cancelled. I know this is a feature of broadcasting as I often see others reporting this, but it is bad planning.
Commission in the UK, the Home Office acknowledging that some people were wrongly included on the list and some legal representations, only 7 men, 7, of the original 90, left the UK today. Much will be said/written about this deportation. The Jamaica government, on this occasion,
RIP, Jah Shaka, Zulu Warrior, & king of Jamaican reggae & dub sound systems who died today. His roots reggae sound livened up many parties & events across the UK, from the 1970s. Until seeing this picture earlier, I hadn't realized he was a champion of migrants rights too. ✊🏾
It's only a matter of time before I name & shame solicitors who having charged £3500 to someone who is detained & facing deportation to Jamaica, is threatening to close the file unless a further £3500 is paid. Representations include a ten year old expert report & wiki extracts.
The Jamaicans have been told that PCR tests will be offered. When & what use would that have been a few hours before the flight was due to leave? But worst, how dare the Home Office directly mislead the Jamaican government? You cannot visit Jamaica without evidence of a negative
Great news:
@LeighDay_Law
's immigration & asylum team obtain an injunction in the past few mins for our client scheduled to be on the
#Rwanda
flight. Case referred by
@followMFJ
yesterday. Grateful to Phil Haywood of
@DoughtyStPublic
& my team, esp Freya Danby & Jerome Bond.
Camila Batmanghelidjh, the much maligned & largely exonerated, founder of Kids Company & the Place to Be, died aged 61 on New Year's Day.
In my work in both criminal & immigration practice, I met many young people who credited her with turning their lives around. May she RIP.
Sarah Everard was the granddaughter of a Jamaican woman who arrived in the UK as a member of the Windrush generation becoming a nurse. Our interconnectedness, even when we can't see it, must challenge those who seek to divide us. via
@JamaicaObserver
government tried to deport 90 people & destroy 90 families. 93 were saved. Something is very wrong with a system which exists to show strength, falsely posited within a paradigm of public safety, which gets so much wrong. Law, activism & resistance can end this ghastly practice.
the value of the Black family is as meaningless today as it was during slavery. For British children to see or read about their fathers being grabbed at dawn, shackled & cuffed & removed from their loved ones after already paying for any crimes & often whilst leading years of
acted reasonably admirably. The High Commission in particular worked around the clock and through the night on issues to do with people who arrived as children, those with Windrush connections and the risk to Jamaica's public health system due to inadequacies re Covid protocols.
1/2 Breaking News! The Windrush Scandal suddenly gets worst, if that's possible, as a BBC team uncover that hundreds of Commonwealth citizens with mental illnesses were removed from the UK, unlawfully... I visited Kew Archives with the BBC team to examine
Home Sec Suella Braverman announced today at the
#conservativeconference
, that asylum seekers crossing the channel will be barred from claiming asylum.Not only is this a breach of the Refugee Convention & International Declaration of Human Rights, it is inhumane.
#RefugeesWelcome
Deportation is inhumane. Prison is meant to be about rehabilitation preparation for rejoining society. No where in the texts of criminologists is there the notion that you be punished again once you've served your sentence. But more importantly, these deportations remind us that
Terrible news!
#SoniaWinifred
, as a councillor for
#Lambeth
which has the largest number of victims of the
#WindrushScandal
, was a formidable champion for their rights & made resources available so that the BCA & town hall could host pro bono surgeries. She also worked 1/2
My actions on Wednesday 24 January voting FOR the ceasefire motion, resulting in disciplinary hearing on Monday 26 February left me no choice but to resign my position on Lambeth Council as Councillor for Knights Hill Ward with immediate effect.
PCR test taken 72 hours before a journey. The British government is prepared to put the already weakened health care systems of Jamaica, an ally, under serious threat by misleading them & by offering them 300k vaccines. I wait to hear what explanation the Jamaicans will be given.
Judge ruled on a possible Windrush link, two men in their 60s, both ill, including one with possible dementia, who did go, possibly have Windrush connections. Just recently, FOI data revealed that Jamaicans, Nigerians and Ghaians are disproprtionaly targeted for deportation.
Tonight my little law firm won this award. Some days I despair but these awards remind me of the importance of my work, to fight for those with no voice. This award is for the victims of the
#Windrush
scandal, especially those who died before getting Justice.
@diversitylegal
On Monday night, the Jamaican government raised concerns re Covid protocols. On Tuesday morning, they were told that 17 men who were still scheduled to go at that stage, had received negative PCR tests. When journalists made enquiries about this, the story changed to,
Deportation is ghastly & inhumane. We need urgent dialogue at an international & community level. The receiving countries need help to fight back.The Borders Act 2007 must be repealed. People facing deportation need help with quality representation. But in the end, the British
changed lives is deeply disturbing. The fact that there is still so much Windrudh connection, directly and indirectly, is disturbing. The fact that powerful countries still offer trinkets and flex their muscles, is disturbing. The fact that voices of many faith leaders, MPs
Delighted to announce that today I become a partner at leading human rights firm
@LeighDay_Law
where I hope to further advocate for the rights of migrants & others who have suffered human rights abuses. I look forward to creating & leading a team of specialists in these fields.
In the annals of the Windrush story will stand these men and some indomitable women and ancestors, whatever happens later today. Best of luck to you and all the team.
#EnglandvsItaly
#Diversitywins
bullying of poor countries. I applaud Jamaica's stand on Windrush, trying to safeguard people who came to the UK as children and in trying to protect its public health systems. Up to an hour before the flight, the High Commissioner in the UK was making enquiries re individuals.
"An unequal spread of justice will damage the people & cause pain. Give justice and equality to all."
Benjamin Zephaniah who died today aged 65 💔.
His voice was one of reason & hope when Britain looked to sink below the abyss, as now.
We'll miss you bother. Rest well.
2 unconnected
#Windrush
elders who naturalised in the 70s & obtained British passports which they've renewed successfully 5/6 times, are now, 50 yrs on, being asked for birth certificates & passports from their home lands. What is this about
@ukhomeoffice
? I'm uncomfortable.
Less than half of people affected (census data) by Windrush have approached the Home Office because of an ongoing fear of the hostile environment. People w/out documents won't trust an initiative on vaccines whilst they can't have a smear test, mammogram or access an NHS dentist.
1/4 Roy Harrison is a broken man but I'm hopeful that the restoring of his Indefinite Leave to remain, after 10 years, will mean be can now get his life back. He's been let down by every agency involved in his life. Local authority files reveal that
Pleased to be representing Mr Black & family who returned to the UK today after being stranded in Trinidad & Tobago for 40 yrs due to the
#WindrushScandal
. The family fought the Home Office with grace & grit.
Excellent work & support to the family by Gertrude &
@WindrushLives
1/5 A selection of my Windrush photo book. My parents met in the UK. My dad arrived from Jamaica onboard the HM Georgic in 1951 & my mum from Grenada in 1958 onboard a BOAC flight. My brother & I were born in the UK in 1962 & 1965 respectively, but by 1975 my parents sold their
Deportation must now be discussed within the context of international relations & human rights. Like Windrush, there was insufficient capacity to fight back though this is growing. The community respone to each charter is admirable but insufficient. Some of the big NGOs are mute,
Of Course the Home Office could have done this properly & the Jamaica government would have found its hands tied once it got some of what it sought. No, this debate isn't about short term stays though these are important. One man was taken off the flight at the last minute when a
Private contractors tell people seeking asylum that their claims will be at risk if they protest the inhumane conditions of their detention. Every story on this subject seems more shocking than the one before it which was shocking enough.
the smaller ones, overreached. But credit to them & the powerful voices who emerged. Credit to the lawyers who worked pro bono into the long nights. Credit to the families who tried their very best; sad to hear some of you were disgracefully turned away from final visits.
I'm not gonna lie peeps. Thanks to
@Santandave1
, from my ends of Streatham, my 16 year old now thinks it's cool to sit down to discussions on racism, deportation & Windrush. 🙏🏿 . My son was threatening to leave home on the basis that I was obsessed. Congrats!
#thebritawards
on different sides of the house, NGOs, lawyers and judges, journalists and other commentators are ignored on the inhumanity of deportation is disturbing. Several children and partners have had their lives ripped apart. Some of these men, particularly those convicted of drug
Thread:
News that the
#Jamaica50
flight left carrying the grand & great grandchildren of the
#Windrush
generation is shocking. Despite much success in getting stays in individual cases, a JR regarding the interests of children failed to obtain interim relief but continues. 1/16
Channel 4 News will feature an exclusive on my client, Richard Black, tonight. Richard, who returned to the UK on Monday after 40 years exclusion, questions why justice evades Black people even when major wrongs have been committed.
#WindrushScandal
#HostileEnvironment
Richard Black was left stranded in Trinidad for 41 years after his UK citizenship was revoked - despite living in the UK since he was six.
We went with him as he visited his mother's grave in London for the first time. He was refused travel documents to attend her funeral.
offences, the majority, (urban living & the Criminal justice system is for another day), will have unaffectedly British codefendants. The Jamaica government did put up some resistance. If I were them I wouldn't have allowed the flight but I'm not privy to all of the pressure and
Client received a letter from the Passport Office yesterday advising that her 8 year old son who is British and has a British passport and British father named on his birth certficate, cannot have his passport renewed without a paternity test.
I reported
#SuellaBraverman
for a hate crime when she leaked a false dossier on me so as to unleash her base. But more importantly, she put thousands of lives at risk during her reign. Her sacking won't undo the worst effects of her tenure, but it is very welcomed by me.
Sad death of a
#Windrush
clmt today. She was delighted to be recognized as British after 60 years in the UK but was still working on a claim for comp. This follows last month's sad death of a man whose claim is pending. This is an elderly cohort! Improvements are needed urgently
Really humbled but honored to have won Hero of the Year at last night's British Diversity Awards. I dedicate this award to every person fleeing persecution across the 🌍. There are 26 mil refugees in the world & over 80 mil displaced people. The UK can & must do better.
#BDA22
A statue of Lord Nelson, erected in 1813, was removed from Barbados' National Heroes Square a few hours ago to be taken to a garrison. The removal of the statue is part of Barbados' programme to remove relics of slavery & colonialism, which includes plans to become a republic.
12/12 Laws to protect against discrimination, such as the Equality Act, must apply to the Royal family. They have form & reform seems a long way off. They must show leadership in urgent discussions & actions needed to effect change, & must atone, including through reparations.
1/2 Saddened to hear that
#RichardTaylor
, the father of
#Damilola
Taylor killed aged 10 in 2000, has died. Richard spent the past 2 decades campaigning for social justice & raising funds to support medical students in memory of Damilola who wanted to be a Dr. He was gracious &
1/3 Quelle surprise - UK
#visas
for "top talent" start today, but excludes students from universities in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America & South Asia. Nick Hillman at Oxford's Higher Education Policy Institute, describes the move as one "...the Home Office loves because
Remembering
#JeanCharlesdeMenezes
, killed this day in 2005 by the British State who claimed he had a bomb on him, despite allowing him & this bomb to travel on a crowded bus from Tulse Hill to Stockwell Station.
Honoured to have worked on this case & with his gracious family. 💔
11/12 & violence. All those women attending the Palace should have felt safe. Ngozi was a victim of abuse, othering & racism by the incessant probing. It is right that Lady Hussey has gone but a champion of women has been traumatized by a woman at an event for women. Ironic!
Another Home Secretary bites the dust.
This must be it for
#JamesCleverly
who is reported to have told a group of women at a reception that he'd drugged his wife with a 'date rape drug.'
He thought this was funny!
His position is untenable.
He must go.
Thousands assembled in Hackney earlier in support of
#DianeAbbott
. During my 20 yrs at Hackney Council, joining the yr Diane became an MP, I saw how hard she worked to build bridges across communities. Tonight's turn out was a testimony to this, & I was honoured to be a speaker.
Really excited that
@BellRibeiroAddy
, MP for Streatham, has been appointed shadow immigration minister. Bell has been a leading advocate for people affected by the
#Windrush
scandal and other immigration hostilities. Congratulations Bell
Horrible to see govt ministers feigning sympathy for the
#Afghan
asylum seekers who drowned in the Channel today, when the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Programme barely functions, & there's no other safe routes. 10,000+ of 45,000 people crossing the Channel in 2022 were Afghans.
More sad news from the
#Windrush
community; Jashwa Moses loses his battle with cancer. Jashwa fought for years to prove his right to UK citizenship despite arriving here in 1967. Proof of citizenship arrived too late for him to make a final trip to Jamaica
The ritual of ensuring that each of my children understand their civic duty & the historic battles to achieve same for Black & working people, ended today when my last, Theo, cast his first ever vote aged 18 despite saying he feels despondent about politics & politicians.
1/5 I was invited to the Queen's funeral at Westminster Abbey. This was because another country in the realm invited me to be one of their representatives. I had mixed feelings out of courtesy to those inviting me but also because irrespective of any views I hold on monarchies,
To full a plane of Jamaicans, some in the UK since childhood, the Home Office is rushing to detaining anyone who might fit their description of "serious criminal", even if they've been out of prison for a decade, not reoffended & settled into family life & work. This is obscene.
Braverman said to have put asylum seeker's lives at risk after legionella disease found on the
#BibbyStockholm
. Only last year, asylum seekers were exposed to diphtheria at
#Manston
.
No wonder the government wants to silence lawyers.
3/12 resources, is undoubtedly racism of which the Royal family is steeped in. Elizabeth l funded the voyages of John Hawkins, the first recorded voyages of the British kidnapping of women, men & children from Africa, trading them across the Americas for sugar & spiceces, leading
Elderly Nigerian couple wrongly excluded from the UK got status through the
#Windrush
Scheme but a nil offer for a detailed compensation claim they did themselves. They won't however let me appeal as they say they're "too old & unwell" & "dealing with the Home Office is torture."
And, most of the 25 Jamaicans due to be deportated next week have been out of prison for years & not reoffended. It's a myth that this practice is about societal safety or immigration control. It's about terrorising the Black community for political gain.
8/12 told, given the role of welcoming & settling Megan Markle into the royal family. We know how that ended & worst, how the media & some sections of society, set out to disbelieve the victims, ridiculin & castigating them in equal measures. This latest episode comes on the back
9/12 of reports that the Royal family may have ignored right wing threats made to Megan Markle. It also comes days after those images of the Queen Consort holding the sleeve of a little Black girl rather than her hands, images which made us shudder. I get that this country
4/12 to the destruction & dehumanizing of a people with unresolved consequences. My lines included that it was the Duke of York (who became James ll) and his brother Charles ll, who set up the Royal African Company which became a prolific kidnapper & trader in millions of
5/12 African women, men & children; we can't begin to understand the modern day Royal family without looking at its history. Today, every facet of society is under the microscope as racism persists. From schools, universities, NGOs & major employers, to political organizations,
2/12 Nevertheless, I'll have my say as the caller did say they'd decided to take the programme in a different direction, possibly to the lines I had supplied. My lines included, that what happened to Ngozi Fulani, CEO of Sister Space, a life saving DV project built with little
Michael Bond, Paddington's creator, said, "Paddington Bear was a refugee with a label 'Please look after this bear. Thank you.'”
The irony of this
#Jubilee
act is that HM's govt would have sent Paddington to
#Rwanda
as fast as they plan to send Iraqis, Syrians, Sudanese & et al.
@Vic6401
He was always invited in the beginning. At one garden event which was actually quite a genteel affair for the most part with a sax player, the police turned up & kind of gave away the source of their call.
7/12 feel less equal to others. Too many racists hide behind institutional racism & its bogus inposter, unconscious bias. The fact that we now know the perpetrator, enables us to provide context to other modern examples of racism in the royal family. Lady Susan Hussey was, we're
10/12 wants to retain the pomp & ceremony of yesterday as a reminder of a past glory, especially at a time when our position in the world is in freefall. Yesterday's event was to celebrate the work of women who champion the rights of women, particularly those experiencing abuse
Last night I was presented with the
#Powerlist2021
Humanitarian Award for my Windrush work. I am honoured but salute the women and men, directly affected, who continue to lead this cause and thank the organizers for giving such a powerful platform to raise this ongoing injustice.
More than one person thought I was mad to publicly express my thoughts on attempts to deprive Shamima Begum of her citizenship. Then today happened and those same people are in shock to discover what the HS meant by declaring that citizenship is a privilege rather than a right.
Most of my work for the past 5 years has been on the
#Windrush
Scandal though the Tories/Home Office/foreign agents missed this despite me working with the first two. Shocked by this news when the government induced scandal is far from being resolved.
The UK continues to remove/deport young people to countries they barely or don't know, leaving behind their families, friends & social & cultural frameworks. This Panorama documentary next Wednesday 5 May 19.30, looks at some of the cases & concerns.
6/12 government, the army, & the police, & even the fire brigade as seen in a report just last week. I agree that it is the institutions which needs examining but society must know the perpetrators & there must be consequences for actions which continue to make some people
Diane Taylor covers today's deportation flight to Jamaica which has received widespread condemnation in the UK & Caribbean with particular outrage at the news of a 66 year old dementia suffer who arrived confused & sobbing having left his family in the UK.