LONDON - Prime Minister Theresa May apologized to 12 Caribbean nations on Tuesday for immigration officials’ recent harsh treatment of people from those countries who migrated to Britain as children after World War Two.
The “Windrush generation” were invited to Britain to plug labor shortfalls between 1948 and 1971, but some of their descendants have been caught up in a tightening of immigration rules overseen by May in 2012 when she was interior minister.
Some people have been wrongly labeled illegal immigrants, asked to provide documentary evidence of their life in Britain they had never previously been required to keep, and in some cases denied rights, detained and threatened with deportation.
“I want to apologize to you today because we are genuinely sorry for any anxiety that has been caused,” May told leaders and diplomats from the Caribbean countries, who were in London for a summit of Commonwealth heads of government.
The scandal over the mistreatment of people from what were once British colonies has cast a shadow over the summit, which is supposed to strengthen Britain’s ties to fellow Commonwealth countries as it prepares to leave the European Union. (Reuters)