'They're waiting for us to die off': Windrush scandal victim calls for overhaul ... trends now
The Government has been accused of waiting for Windrush scandal victims to 'die off' amid fresh anger about the delivery of compensation payouts.
Campaigners have branded the compensation scheme for victims a 'failure' and demanded an overhaul of the handling of payouts.
This includes the Home Office being stripped of responsibility for overseeing the scheme and for it to be handed to an independent body.
The Windrush scandal saw many British citizens - mostly from the Caribbean - denied access to healthcare and benefits and threatened with deportation despite having the right to live in the UK.
A compensation scheme has been in place since 3 April 2019 but, nearly five years on, there are growing concerns about the number of people dying before receiving payouts.
Conroy Downie, a 67-year-old Windrush victim who has been advising thousands of others on how to make compensation claims, is still waiting for his case to be fully settled
Campaigners have branded the compensation scheme for victims a 'failure' and demanded the Home Office be stripped of responsibility
The British liner 'Empire Windrush' (pictured in 1954) that gave its name to the 'Windrush' generation
Conroy Downie, a 67-year-old Windrush victim who has been advising thousands of others on how to make compensation claims, is still waiting for his case to be fully settled.
'It's a failure, it's disgusting. I think they are waiting for us to die off,' he told the PA news agency.
The great-grandfather, who was born in Jamaica and came to the UK as a teenager before joining the Army, twice wrongly faced deportation amid the scandal.
He said 'the system has failed us' as he described how one of the main problems was that people still 'don't trust the Home Office'.
'They need to take the compensation scheme off the Home Office and give it to an independent body,' he added.
Immigration and human rights lawyer Jacqueline McKenzie, who has worked with more than 400 Windrush victims, said: 'Like the Post Office Horizon scandal, it is deplorable that the scheme is managed by the perpetrators of the wrong.'
The partner and head of immigration and asylum law at the firm Leigh Day said the Home Office 'must speed up the decision making' and work with lawyers and campaigners to bring about reform.
While there have been 'some improvements' over the years, 'we are still some way to go to
