In the wake of the Windrush Scandal, the Home Office has now announced that they will no longer be checking UK bank accounts for the foreseeable future.
For those of you who don’t know, the Windrush Scandal is an incident where thousands of immigrants who have arrived in the UK from the Caribbean have been threatened with deportation after their documents were destroyed in 2010.
This happened whilst, now Prime Minister, Theresa May was home secretary. This “Windrush Generation” was brought to the UK from their home countries between 1948 and 1971 in order to help repair and rebuild Britain after the destruction of the Second World War. As a token of gratitude, they were all granted permanent UK visas in return.
The Home Office planned to contact various banks and to conduct rigorous checks in order to create, what they referred to, as a ‘hostile environment’ for immigrants. Anybody who has opened a bank account illegally would be forced to leave the UK.
For those who have the legal right to remain in the UK, for example, those who have a spouse visa, a work visa or study do not have to worry, as this doesn’t affect them. The movement was an attempt to clamp down on those who have been residing in the UK illegally.
The Home Office has now decided to withdraw their investigation and steer away from British Citizens, after facing mass criticism. A Home Office spokesperson has said “we have decided to temporarily reduce the scope of the checks”, this measure has been taken to safeguard citizens who may not be living in the UK illegally. this may lead to thorough interviews in future and a focus on employment screening.
Richard M is an immigration journalist who works closely with the Immigration Solicitors London, in order to bring the most up to date immigration news to people everywhere.