The story of the Windrush Generation is all too familiar to us in Jamaica, but it is still largely misunderstood by many around the world. In the post-World War II period — now many decades ago — there were labour shortages in the United Kingdom across various sectors. The HMT Empire Windrush is best known for transporting one of the first groups of immigrants, over 1,000 passengers, from Jamaica to London. Nearly half-million Caribbean nationals moved to the UK between 1948-1971 to take those jobs and help infrastructurally build back Britain after the war and make it even stronger.

They settled, had children, took jobs, established businesses, employed people, paid taxes, built communities, and raised families in the UK. Many people within this generation were without passports and did not take steps to regularise themselves decades ago as there was no need to. Under the 1971 Immigration Act, all Commonwealth citizens already living in the UK were given indefinite leave.

However, the Home Office did not record those granted leave to remain nor issue any paperwork confirming it. Changes to the immigration law in 2012, (which required people to have documentation to work, rent a property, or access benefits, including health care) led to members of the Windrush Generation losing their jobs and threatened with deportation in April 2018. It was scandalous.

Indeed, the UK Government did apologise and took steps to regularise the status of some members of this generation, with compensation given to some that were callously deported. Today, the UK is looking back to figure out what went wrong in the ‘Learned Review’. Yet, despite the apology, reflection, and promise surrounding the Windrush scandal, the UK Government continues to enforce uncompassionate regard for the human rights of individuals through existing deportation practices which send people back to their countries of birth after decades of being away.

Yes, do the time if you do the crime, but Jamaicans in Britain face the double punishment of deportation after they have served their time for a crime committed. This is cruel.

Ahead of a scheduled deportation flight to Jamaica last month here is what I said to the British people in The Guardian on May 20, 2022:

“I have recently been thinking about the way we treat people who have broken the law. There is a significant philosophical issue here regarding the kind of societies we, as members of a globalised world, want to live in: If you have lived in a place since infancy or childhood and you commit a crime in that place, should you be punished in that place? Or, should you be deported back to the country of your birth?

“These questions come to mind as I read about the UK’s deportation flights. According to an analysis by a campaign group published in The Guardian last month of 20 Jamaicans facing one recent deportation flight, the majority arrived in Britain as children. (The flight left this last month with seven people on-board, others remained in the UK pending legal challenges.)

“In Jamaica, we are no strangers to families being permanently torn apart, with some members sent thousands of miles away. We all know those dark days in our history. In November 2020 the Jamaican high commissioner and the UK Government agreed that people who arrived in the UK aged 12 years or under should not be deported, and many people were removed from a planned flight in December 2020 on this basis. We would hope that the UK will honour this agreement.

“We need to have an open and honest debate about this. Is it humane to displace human beings from one country to another, where they may not have lived for decades and no longer have connections? Is it fair to the recipient country who would now have to bear the burden of trying to reintegrate that person into a society that is foreign to them? And is it fair to that person, who not only has to pay their debt to society through imprisonment but has the additional punishment of having to rebuild their life in a country thousands of miles from home?

“Please do not misunderstand me, I believe there is a need for immigration laws. And I believe that people who violate those laws should be punished. But it does seem excessive and cruel to separate them from their wives, husbands and children. After all, this could lead to the broken homes and broken spirits that, over time, could evolve into more antisocial behaviour.

“The director of Detention Action, Bella Sankey, points to what appears to be a hostile and discriminatory approach to mass deportations that disproportionately target black and brown people, some of whom committed low-level, non-violent offences for which they have served their sentences and been successfully rehabilitated.

“As a Jamaican politician, it is not my role to take sides in political decisions in the UK. However, it is my obligation to ensure that Jamaican citizens at home and abroad are treated fairly. Indeed, it would be very easy for many to point to our own Government and cast aspersions — saying that I have no right to comment when our house, indeed, has problems too. But this ‘whataboutery’ does not excuse the practice of plucking people out of their homes and sending them halfway around the world, especially when some have built small businesses, paid taxes, and built homes and communities in the UK.

“I do not claim to have the answers to these questions, and there certainly must be a balance. But I would like to offer some principles. First, we should try to keep families together because we all know the importance of the family unit to the development of safe, productive and happy communities. Therefore, access to advocacy support for family perspectives to be heard is crucial so children are not suddenly torn from their parents and faced with lifelong trauma. Second, punishment should be handled in the community where the crime was committed. And third, if there must be a relocation, there must also be a process for reintegrating that family safely and productively in their new home.

“If we can follow these broad principles we can craft a sensible immigration policy with attendant crime and punishment clauses in accordance with the international treaties that govern the way states must interact with each other.

“A Jamaican proverb says, “Nuh romp wid mawga cow, a cudda bull mumma.” (Don’t play with a skinny cow because it could be the bull’s mother.) [This can be translated:] Don’t disregard or discard people who may seem weak or insignificant as you don’t know where they come from or how they’ve influenced shaping your life.

“So, let us forge a better approach that is based on respect for our common humanity.”

Lisa Hanna is Member of Parliament for St Ann South Eastern, People’s National Party spokesperson on foreign affairs and foreign trade, and a former Cabinet member.